Metroville
by serafina19
Summary: Pleasantville-meets-Chlollie, only instead of an old television repairman... it's Zatanna who gives Chloe and Oliver the two-toned treatment in order for them to realize their budding feelings for each other.
1. Part 1

**Timeline**: Season 8 AU starting after _Hex_, samples events from _Odyssey_.

* * *

><p><strong>Metroville<strong>

It was a relief to be back in her body again, because her unintentionally granted wish by the mistress of magic was one birthday present Chloe didn't want to keep. She got the message, one she had to hear, but she could have done without the heel blisters from Lois' high heels. But Chloe supposed that after walking a mile in her cousin's shoes, she understood why she had made the decision to help Oliver and the guys in the first place.

It wasn't just the money, which was a healthy plus, but Chloe had missed this, helping out to save the day, and the guys allowed her to do things on her terms, giving her a sense of freedom that she hadn't felt in awhile, which allowed her to strive for new goals. However, seeing Lois living the dream, or at least, what Chloe thought was _her _dream of being an intrepid reporter, it was hard for Chloe not to be jealous of what Lois had.

It had been ages since Lex had fired Chloe from the _Daily Planet_, and even though the man in question was out of the picture, Chloe figured, based on the metaphorical black hole she sent her resumes into, that a blacklist for any legitimate publication came with her firing. Sure, Chloe managed in the interim between her Watchtower work and Isis, but her professional life wasn't the only facet of her that dramatically changed thanks to Lex, as her stint at Black Creek cost Chloe the man she... well... she thought that she loved him. But that didn't matter. Even though the last time she had seen Jimmy Olsen, he was proposing to her, he was nowhere to be found in Metropolis, Kansas... her life.

Well, that wasn't completely fair to Jimmy, as he did wait for her, he did run the leads he could, but when a job opened up in Coast City, an offer of a lifetime that Jimmy couldn't turn down, he left, thinking that she was gone for good. Sure, when Chloe had returned to Smallville, he had called, willing to give long distance a shot, but Chloe knew that she couldn't do that. They both deserved better than that.

In fact, the down sides of long distance ended up being a blessing in disguise, as Chloe wasn't exactly sure if she was ever ready to settle down, especially considering all the secrets she kept from Jimmy. All this relationship proved was that a normal life wasn't meant to be for Chloe Sullivan.

"Nice to see you in your natural form."

Hearing Oliver's voice enter her thoughts, Chloe shook back into reality, chuckling at his word choice. "Really?" she asked, turning to face the man straight on with raised eyebrows. "That's what you're going with."

Oliver just shrugged, pushing himself from the doorframe as he entered Isis. "I managed to find Zatanna."

Leaning her head to the side, Chloe could see the woman in question behind Oliver, but that didn't mean Chloe was overly impressed. Crossing her arms, Chloe couldn't resist rolling her eyes. "I'm glad you're able to find the magician _you_ hired for my birthday."

Oliver raised his hand in defence. "Hey, it's not my fault you doubted where you belonged." Noticing Chloe glaring in his direction, he added, "Your words, not mine, remember?"

Zatanna gave a quick glance between the two before taking a good look at the atmosphere Isis had to offer. "So this is your actual job, huh?" Peering inside the room where Chloe's Watchtower console lay, Zatanna grinned, amazed at the technology in such a small space. "You have way better digs here than at the _Daily Planet_."

"Glad you think so." Chloe said quietly as she stood next to the other woman.

"Oh yeah," Zatanna said, snapping her fingers as she turned towards Chloe. "Oliver here wanted me to apologize, but really, I like to think I help people open their eyes to what they want, even if they already have it."

Chloe nodded, as it wasn't quite what she was expecting to hear, but it would have to do. After all, Chloe _did _wish for it. However, aside from the obvious lesson involved, she realized the potential upsides of their introduction to Zatanna. "I'm actually glad he brought you by." Seeing the surprise on the other woman's face, Chloe chuckled lightly before explaining further. "Ever think of using your magic bag of tricks for good?"

"You mean joining your little hero group?" Zatanna looked over to Oliver, who clearly wasn't informed on this plan based on his expression, which gave her the impression that despite being the newest member, Chloe definitely had a say in the league's activities. "Can't say I ever considered the possibility that you'd _want _me to join you, but I suppose it can't be worse than a weekly show of the same tricks over and over."

After waiting a couple seconds for Zatanna to elaborate on her answer, Chloe asked, "Is that a yes?"

Zatanna shrugged. "I'll consider it, but for now, I have to head to my next show." Giving a quick glance to Oliver, she held out her hand to Chloe, "It was nice meeting you."

"Likewise," Choe replied, shaking her hand, "except next time, save the hocus pocus for the bad guys."

With a grin, Zatanna bowed her head before heading for the door. "I'll do my best."

At the doorway, she stopped, hearing Chloe's laugh fill the room. She turned back and watched Chloe and Oliver interact across the room. Playful glances, light banter from what she could hear and Oliver had this way of subtly touching Chloe without her noticing.

It had been that way at her birthday party too, as Chloe was less than enthused at the event, and talking to the birthday girl after the candle was blown out, Zatanna learned to understand why. Everyone that she cared about had either not shown up or left her to fend amongst strangers. However, before he left, Oliver alone had brought a temporary smile to her face, salvaging what was likely a very long night for her.

In fact, the whole time she had watched the two blondes interact, Zatanna genuinely thought they were a couple, but through some subtle drops to the both of them, they had pretty much cemented their single status to her, because from the sounds of things, romance wasn't exactly their strong suits.

It seemed understandable, considering the one and only Oliver Queen's reputation, but after a few conversations with the man himself, Zatanna had a very different picture. Lois, the woman Chloe envied, was clearly a part of his past, a great friend, but Zatanna got the impression that the only woman in his life was Chloe.

From the small conversation they shared at her birthday party, Zatanna liked Chloe, as she was a strong, independent woman from a small town who held a strong front, but even Zatanna knew there were insecurities there, but they seemed to disappear when Oliver was around... hence how Zatanna figured they had to be something going on between the two of them.

But there wasn't and that was fine, because she knew they were smart people, and with time, Zatanna had little doubt that they would see their feelings for each other. So as much as she was tempted to intervene again in their lives, she held back, seeing no reason to intervene... for now.

**~0~**

"Come on Chloe, everyone's here, and I'm sure your boss will give you a night off."

Zatanna had just come back to Metropolis to catch up with her favourite hero group, and after Clark informed her of their plans at the Ace of Clubs, she went straight over. But as she exited the elevator, what Oliver said grabbed her attention. However, she didn't want to interrupt or make the situation awkward, so she waited for the elevator door to close so she could do what any self-respecting women would.

Eavesdrop.

Of course, Zatanna wasn't _that _inconsiderate, so an invisibility spell later, it was like she never showed up.

It had been a good three or four months since her first encounter with the league and well, she had taken a liking to the group. While she hadn't officially joined by any means, she admired the camaraderie and the overall family dynamic they shared. Since she knew she wasn't going to bring her father back, it calmed the lonely side of the mistress of magic, and maybe that's why she fell under _their_ spell.

It really was a dysfunctional family; Bart, the impulsive spoiled kid; Victor, the older, mature "brother," and she could only assume Dinah and AC had their roles to fill as well. But, as she assumed from day one, Chloe and Oliver filled the den mother and father roles perfectly, without actually admitting to anything, but the tone of Oliver's voice this time piqued Zatanna's interest. Sure, he wanted Chloe to take a night off, but there was a hint of concern there, one that hadn't been there before.

_Finally_, she thought, rolling her eyes. _At least one of them has a clue._

Unfortunately, Chloe made it clear that any progress that may have been made was one-sided. Passing to Oliver what looked like a thumb drive, she said, "I'm just here to drop off the files." She leaned to look around Oliver before snickering at the antics of the group in the club. "But don't go too crazy on me."

That was her normal, naivety-filled concerned tone that she took with her boys. Only Chloe was capable of making Oliver come down a couple levels. Zatanna rolled her eyes as she continued to lean against the wall until she noticed Chloe turning around.

Subtly hitting the elevator button, Zatanna saw luck on her side for once and she materialized just as the elevator doors fully opened. Also just in time to see Oliver's expression as Chloe got closer to the elevators

"At least let me get you a drink... it can even be non-alcoholic." He said it optimistically, but in a way that he knew Chloe wasn't going to accept, and she didn't disappoint.

"Thanks Oliver, but I have to go. I'll see you in the morning."

"See you in the morning," Oliver repeated as he turned away, just barely catching Zatanna out of the corner of his eye. He gave her a quick wave before heading to the bar.

Zatanna was about to return the gesture when she noticed how Chloe was about to accidentally walk straight into her. Her eyes were square on her phone, and well, Zatanna figured it was worth a shot to see if she could get Chloe to stay. "Leaving so soon?"

Chloe looked up, eyes widening upon recognizing Zatanna before shrugging a shoulder. "I was just dropping something off, I'm back to Isis for a few hours, and then home to bed for me." Turning her head back towards the party, she sighed. "This is great for the guys though... they need to have that sense of fun in their lives." For a second, there was a hint of disappointment in her features, but it disappeared as fast as it surfaced as she faced Zatanna again. "Didn't realize you were in town."

"I don't have a show for a month. Figured I'd stop by to check on the team's shenanigans."

"Well, it's not just the team." Chloe chuckled, as she remembered her first run-in with her. "You might have the chance to meet the actual Lois tonight."

After a quick laugh, Zatanna stepped aside, gesturing her hand towards the elevators. "Alright, I won't keep you longer than I have to." She knew now it was a lost cause, and didn't see any point holding up Chloe any longer. "It was good to see you again Chloe."

Chloe nodded, and headed towards the elevators, gone from Zatanna's sight, which led her to walk fully into the Ace of Clubs. A few familiar faces, but instead of mingling right away, she found herself drawn to the bar, a stool next to Oliver, who was nursing what Zatanna hoped was only his first glass of scotch.

"Someone looks a little gloomy tonight," she remarked, knowing how obvious it sounded to the both of them.

"Hey Zatanna," was all he said in response, tilting the glass back and forth.

"So... what's bothering their resident leader?" Sure, Zatanna knew the answer to that question, but she needed to hear it from him, get confirmation for something she had long suspected.

"It's nothing."

Turning around in the stool, Zatanna leaned her back against the bar as she looked out into the crowd. "You can spout that all you want to your league-mates, but even you know that's a big lie."

It took Oliver a while to reply, but as he sensed Zatanna peering in his direction again, he gave in. "I guess... I was hoping Chloe would have taken the night off, but she still insists on working late."

"She doesn't have much fun, does she?"

Oliver laughed sarcastically, as he offered Chloe to be Watchtower full-time to lift her spirits, but instead of dwelling in the past, she had become a reclusive workaholic. "Since you reaffirmed her faith in what she does as Watchtower, not that I blame you or anything, but she hardly lets anyone in anymore."

Listening to Oliver, Zatanna was almost convinced that she could help, and she was hoping that Oliver saw that too. "I seem to remember that I owe you a wish for everything I did."

Downing the rest of his drink in one big swig, Oliver shook his head. "Thanks, but no. Chloe would figure it all out and we'd be worse than square one."

He walked away, and that's when Zatanna realized that Oliver had feelings for Chloe, but he wouldn't act on them. Then again, knowing their stubbornness, he may not be aware of them in the first place. So, even if they were going to object to her actions, Zatanna realized that she couldn't sit back anymore.

Standing up, she did her rounds, stuck around long enough to catch up with the league members she knew before heading towards the elevators to leave. She had some work to do, and it couldn't wait until morning.


	2. Part 2

**Part 2**

Stretching herself awake, Chloe drowsily got out of bed, not bothering to open her eyes just yet. Of course, that all changed once she took a couple steps and her head unexpectedly collided with a wall.

"What the—?" Chloe took a step back, she could have sworn that she got back to the Talon last night, and her bed was not that close to the wall. Rubbing her eyes, Chloe opened them slowly, only to blink them several times at the room around her. This clearly wasn't the Talon.

Littered around the room were textbooks, family photos, other photos that Chloe didn't pay enough attention to because, well, there was one glaring omission in her vision. Colour.

It was something Chloe couldn't explain, despite the numerous theories in her head, so she moved to her closet, going along with what Chloe had decided was a dream. However, skimming through the clothes in her closet didn't exactly help. Sure, she had her share of experience in pencil skirts, but these skirts were ridiculously girly, and never something Chloe would wear. To her relief, she found a pair of slacks which she put on as fast as she could. The tops were a little better, nothing too over the top or revealing, but they sure were... dated.

She gave a quick peek outside, noticing the leaves on the trees had differing shades of gray and there seemed to be a slight wind in the air. Based on that, Chloe believed it was fall, so she grabbed the longer sleeved sweater, just to be sure.

As she straightened the shirt out, her focus quickly shifted as she heard creaking noises from outside her door. She opened it carefully, tiptoeing out of her room when the last person she expected to see walked up the last step.

"Dad!" Chloe almost couldn't believe it, but as he turned his head towards her, her thoughts were confirmed. It had been years since she had seen Gabe, so any reason, dream or not, was enough for her to embrace his presence, literally.

"Well, aren't you cheery this morning?" He patted Chloe's back a couple times, but Chloe wouldn't let go. "I have to head out to go to work, but you have to get going or else you'll be late for school. Your mother left early to get some errands done, so the pancakes are waiting for you on the table."

That caught Chloe's attention. "Mom?" It may have been less time since Chloe had seen her mother, but it had been much longer since her family was the normal sense of dysfunctional.

"Yes," Gabe said with a smile, "she had to get some supplies for her knitting club meeting tonight before she went to work."

_Knitting club?_

This dream got weirder by the second. Then again, for all she knew, her mother did knit, so Chloe silently resolved to book a flight to visit her once she woke up.

Her dad caught her expression and patted Chloe's shoulder. "You have a weird dream last night pumpkin? You don't look so good."

_Try right now._

This was teetering on the weirdest dream she ever had, but she shook it off by rubbing her eyes. "Still waking up I guess."

The lie seemed to satisfy Gabe enough, and he began to walk towards the stairs again. "Well, I'll see you when I get home. Don't let your breakfast get cold."

Chloe managed a smile, knowing how long it had been since she had seen her dad walk in the door. "Have a good day, Dad."

She watched her dad descend the steps, and as happy as she was to see him, and as happy as she was to hear her mom was okay, Chloe realized that this had to stop now. Sure, her family was intact... normal, and it gave her a great feeling inside, but it wasn't reality, and Chloe wasn't going to let herself get too attached to the idea, especially because Chloe knew it wouldn't last. Squeezing her eyes shut, Chloe counted to five, but soon realized that hearing her voice killed her focus, so she stopped.

Standing there in silence, Chloe waited, and when she opened her eyes, she immediately rolled them. Apparently it was a little harder to get rid of this dream than she thought.

Heading to the bathroom, Chloe hoped washing her face would bring some sense into what she was experiencing, but she caught her reflection in the mirror first, causing her to do a double take. She had noticed that her hair was a little shorter, but it wasn't the only change. Chloe looked younger, like her days in high school, and sure enough, and even though there were no cell phones, apparently she could own hair gel.

Whatever this place was, its priorities were seriously messed up.

But Chloe figured she might as well look the part, so she finished off the look she remembered sporting during those days, the entire time spent thinking about how she should have had that drink Oliver offered her if she's dreaming something like this sober.

Thinking of Oliver, seeing her dad, it got Chloe to thinking as to who else would be here. Clark seemed like a given, but then again, her mother's presence was a bit of a surprise. Maybe she wouldn't know anyone else here.

_Snap out of it_. _It's just a dream_

Chloe promptly left the bathroom, wanting to know the lengths of this dream, maybe even figure out why she would have a dream like this.

The home itself was something out of a 1950's catalogue, which timeline matched the contents in her wardrobe and seemed to suit the lack of colour. Everything in the living room had its place and it almost seemed perfect in the sense of nothing had been touched, or ripped up. It was eerie, and it pretty much scared Chloe to even stand in the living room, so she moved onto the kitchen, where supposedly breakfast was waiting for her.

That was an understatement. "I'm supposed to eat all this?" The clichés continued to pile up, a stack of pancakes, at least three pieces of bacon, and Chloe was pretty sure she saw scrambled eggs too. For a girl who thrived on coffee (the one thing missing at the table), this was a little extreme for breakfast. But her stomach grumbled, so she figured why not and sat down. To her surprise, it was still warm, and she ate every bite, and didn't even miss the fact orange juice replaced her morning coffee.

Upon finishing, Chloe heard the rumbling on the streets, so she went back towards the front door and opened it while she shoved her shoes onto her feet.

It almost felt like she stepped in the world of _Edward Scissorhands_, minus the colour of course. Lined-up mailboxes, old cars, and smiles no matter where she looked. At least five people Chloe had never seen in her life waved at her or said good morning, and all Chloe could do was wave back with a half-smile. This place was _way _too cheerful.

Picking up her backpack, she slung it over her shoulder and began to look for a key to lock her house when she remembered. Dream. It'd be gone by morning anyway.

But apparently she had school, so as Chloe walked away from her home, she looked around optimistically for a university campus, but instead, she encountered Metroville high school instead.

_No. Friggin'.Way. _

Sure, her look had matched the time, but Chloe was really hoping not to encounter high school again, mainly because it wasn't exactly her favourite time of her life. Between meteor freaks of the week, getting her heart broken and smashed upon, and Luthors, the Torch was about the only good thing she had in high school. Other than isolating about three weeks worth of days from that time frame, Chloe knew she wouldn't miss it. But it appeared that not only did Chloe have to experience it once, but she had to endure a second trial.

Not only that, the name. _Metroville_. Real subtle name choice, combining the two cities she called home, but hey, at least there was a name to the nightmarish place. That said, Chloe had enough. Knowing that closing her eyes didn't work, she pinched herself a bunch of times instead, and tried a bunch of other techniques, but they didn't work. Her world was still in black and white.

"Cuz!"

A familiar voice, that was positive. "Lois, hey." As Lois was somebody still in her life, Chloe felt herself relaxing. "It's so good to have a familiar face around here."

"What are you talking about?" Lois asked, eyes narrowed. "You know everyone around here, and there's no need to feel intimidated anymore. Remember, you and I are the envy of every girl in Metroville."

Between her peppy tone and her girly clothes, whoever this was, this wasn't her cousin. "Lois, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Better question is are you alright?" Chloe was thrown off as Lois patted her hand against her forehead, sporting an expression of concern, "I haven't seen you like this since Oliver messed up your flower order for the homecoming dance, and even that was temporary."

Oliver? As in Oliver Queen? Here? Sure, Lois wasn't exactly a main-stay in her high school, but Oliver wasn't even in Smallville at the time.

The only explanation that Chloe could think of was that it was another quirk to this place. If nothing else, it wasn't exactly normal for Lois to be remotely interested in a homecoming dance, let alone setting it up. That, and in what world was Chloe Sullivan actually popular?

Trying to back away subtly while maintaining a straight face, Chloe replied. "Just a headache, I guess."

Lois' hand flew to her mouth. "Well, we better go see the nurse." Yes, because that was what Chloe wanted to do right now. She knew she was in crazy-town right now; she didn't need a nurse to tell her that. But before Chloe knew it, Lois had grabbed her arm, and started to drag her towards the school.

Chloe dug her heels in, but she was no match for Lois, so instead she tugged her arm back, persisting, "Lois, I'm _fine_. Really. I'll be better in a couple of minutes."

"If you insist." Lois said as she continued to drag Chloe enthusiastically towards the school's doors.

Once inside, Lois let go, allowing Chloe's arm to relax as she brought up her head to see everyone was staring at them. What was _their_problem?

They began to walk through the school, and Chloe watched as the girls whispered at their lockers, the guys crowding around a couple lockers as her and Lois went towards what Chloe could only assume were their lockers. Waiting for Lois, Chloe leaned against a locker, staring across the hall-way, confused at how everyone was still staring at her and Lois. Was Lois right? Did people actually know who she was here?

Sensing she was being stared at from a different direction, Chloe peered in Lois' direction who raised her eyebrows as their eyes met. "What?"

Lois gave her a _duh _expression as she pointed to the locker Chloe was leaning against. "Aren't you going to get your books?"

_Crap._

Turning around, Chloe was trying to figure out a way she could fake getting into her locker. After all, it wasn't like she knew the combination. But to Chloe's surprise, there wasn't even a lock on it, so she opened it up and blindly grabbed the books out of her locker when she felt someone tugging them from her hands.

"I've got those," a different voice called, one that Chloe actually recognized, but not one she exactly to hear, especially right now. Turning around, Chloe was about to protest when she noticed that it wasn't going to be that easy.

She blinked a couple times as she took in Oliver standing in front of her, holding his hand out for her to grab. What exactly did he think he was doing? Wait...did that mean...?

Chloe immediately turned her head to see Clark and Lois standing beside them, arms wrapped around each other. While that was a positive development that Chloe wanted in her world, looking back at Oliver, Chloe realized that based on his behaviour, it was likely that she and him shared their status. That piece of information honestly freaked her out, but she covered it with a smile and accepted his hand.

As they walked down the hallway, Chloe tried to ignore the way her breathing had increased since she grabbed his hand and instead focused on the way other people were behaving. Lois really wasn't kidding, it was like they were high school royalty, a look that Chloe wasn't exactly used to having. Back in technicolour, she hid in the shadows, aside from her odd shining moment like getting crowned prom queen, but even that was a joke.

Stopping in front of a classroom, Chloe watched as Clark kissed Lois lightly on the cheek before handing her books back to her.

_Double crap!_

Not that Oliver kissing her was necessarily a bad thing, or at least, that was based on what Lois told her, but Chloe didn't exactly want to cross that line, even in a dream reality.

"I'll see you later," Oliver said to her, bringing her hand to his lips quickly before handing her books to her.

Chloe did everything she could to hide her relief as she smiled back at him. "See you," she finally replied, despite knowing how dumb that likely sounded. Fortunately, Oliver just grinned at her and took down the hallway, but not without a quick second glance back at Chloe, which caused her to blush momentarily before she caught Lois' expression.

"What?"

Not convinced by Chloe's naivety, Lois crossed her arms. "What on earth was that?"

Brushing by her, Chloe walked into the classroom and headed hopefully to where she normally sat down. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Lois promptly sat down next to her, which apparently meant Chloe's instincts were right on the seat. "I'm talking about the awkward way you're treating your boyfriend this morning. I can't believe you're actually worried about what the rumours."

"What rumours?"

Shocked, Lois turned in her seat and said sternly. "Don't play dumb with me cuz, I know you've heard the rumours of him and Tess talking at The Soda Shoppe the other night, but you know that the only girl he sees is you." Leaning down to open her book bag, she added, "Ever since you came to town, you're all he thinks about."

Tess was here too? It appeared that whatever was going on seemed to involve people she knew now. Chloe cringed at the thought of black and white team members, or most specifically, Dinah. With her vocal tendencies, there was no way her alternate persona could be tolerable to listen to.

Rolling her eyes as she scribbled in her notebook, Chloe replied confidently, "I'm not worried about Tess, Lois. Trust me, they're as over as they get."

It was finally a sentence that Chloe said with absolute certainty. Because if Clark and Lois were together here, she figured Tess and Oliver's story was similar, only likely with a G-rated break-up, which likely involved her. Why that would even happen made no sense to Chloe, as she couldn't explain to herself how Oliver and her would ever end up together in any form, but she chalked it up as one of the many twists of this dream.

After all, Chloe was the new girl in town, not Lois, or even Oliver or Tess. So far, there had been no signs of Lionel or Lex, and Pete and Lana, people she actually went to high school with, were nowhere to be found. However, seeing Clark's had her wondering if his 'powers' followed him through. Sure, the definition of saving the day seemed to involve having the right materials for a float or saving cats from trees, but there was still that possibility.

The teacher walked into the classroom, and started writing on the chalkboard immediately. Mrs. Albury apparently was her name, and her voice made Chloe wish for her old high school teachers, or an episode of _Charlie Brown_. But she had to pay attention, as maybe the lecture would give her some clue as to why she was dreaming up this strange place.

An hour later, she had a feeling she wasn't going to be so lucky. Adding to the abnormalities of the town was the fact that, even though it was possible for people like opposing sports teams, or her family to get in, there were no signs that anyone could actually leave. The map presented to the class was essentially one road which circled around the town, while the other roads divided up the business sector and residential space.

A couple stores, the school, town hall, and other relative amenities made it seem kind of normal, but between classes, Chloe discovered that the books in the school library were empty, not to mention the fact that there was no technology to speak of, and the people didn't seem to know how to frown.

It was empirical insanity, and Chloe wanted out.

But no matter how many times she pinched herself, she wouldn't wake up. No matter how many times she closed her eyes and whispered _Wake up_, nothing happened.

It was once the lunch bell rang that Chloe realized that maybe this wasn't a dream. But if that was the case... how did she get here?

**~0~**

Once the final bell had rung, Chloe didn't waste any time going to her locker to put away her books. She was determined to find a way out here, no matter what it took, so she bolted towards the door, grateful for the fact the sea of people actually parted for her. She got outside and started walking towards her home when she felt a hand yank her back.

"Where are you going?"

Of course it was Lois. Who else was going to stop her at this point? "Home, I have to study."

It was a terrible lie, but one that Chloe hoped would work. The sooner she found a way out the better. It wasn't just the lack of the physical things, it was the people. Lois was... girly, and that scared Chloe more than she'd like. Clark was more or less normal, shy but leader-of-the-pack as he was heralded as the quarterback of the football team, but Oliver... he was a completely different matter. The fact they were together, it was weird, and Chloe had to get back to 'team' Oliver instead of 'boyfriend' Oliver.

The lie seemed to work, but it didn't exactly impress Lois. "There you go again with studying. I thought Oliver had cured that, but I guess not."

"Is studying a bad thing?"

"The way you do it, it is," Lois replied immediately as she grabbed Chloe's arm again. "Come on, we're meeting up with Clark and Oliver."

Tired of having Lois drag her around, Chloe pulled her arm back this time, waiting for her cousin to turn around with a less than pleased expression. "Lois, please," Chloe appealed, hoping for once that she would back down.

But Lois just shook her head. "Nope, you're not pulling this again." Seeing Chloe's eyes drop, Lois sighed. "I swear we'll only be a half-hour."

Chloe was tempted to fight further, but instead she gave in. "Okay... just let me put my books in my bag." They were getting heavy enough as they were, which seemed silly, but Chloe figured if she was going to be out, the last thing she wanted to do was lug the books around, or give Oliver an excuse to be chivalrous again.

Looking up, Lois held out her hand, and Chloe eyed her cousin quizzically. "I won't drag you as long as you keep up."

Chloe rolled her eyes, but she took Lois' hand, keeping up as Lois led her to the other side of the school. It didn't long for her to spot Clark and Oliver's faces among the crowd, so Chloe prepped herself by plastering a smile on her face before they stopped in front of them.

Clark spoke first. "For a minute, we thought you weren't coming."

"Sorry," Lois replied as she lightly elbowed Chloe in the side, "not my fault my cousin's a bookworm."

"She's savin' you from the books again, huh?" Oliver said before leaning his head forward. Chloe was seconds from panicking until she realized he only kissed her cheek and backed away with a smile. "Ready to go?"

"Lead the way," Chloe said optimistically, because once again, she had no idea where they were going.

But that comment also had consequences, big ones. Like Lois and Clark taking the lead, leaving Oliver and her alone behind them. He, with a slight hesitance, put his arm around her shoulder, and Chloe did her best to play along. So she was going steady or whatever with Oliver in this place, what was so bad about that? It could be worse... it could be _Lex_.

So she relaxed towards his side as they walked down the street together, and soon enough Chloe found herself calming down. It was always a facet of Oliver, she supposed, as he was one the few who could get her to relax like this.

Feeling a sudden draft as he retracted his arm, Chloe watched as Oliver ran in front of Clark and Lois to hold the door to the soda place open, smiling at Chloe as she entered.

Now this... this she could get used to. The old-style soda shop, the old-school music, this was liveable, and it only got better as Mr. and Mrs. Kent came out from the back to meet them. It was nice seeing Jonathan Kent's smiling face again, as it appeared that this place had no bounds. Now Chloe was waiting to see her aunt Ella, which reminded Chloe that she hadn't seen Lucy yet, but she shrugged it off.

"Look, our regular booth is open." Clark grinned widely as he took Lois' hand to sit down.

Looking back at Chloe, Oliver held his hand out. "Shall we?"

Smiling genuinely for the first time since she got here, Chloe accepted it. "Yeah, let's go."

**~0~**

Their time at the soda place took much longer than half an hour, but Chloe oddly didn't mind. In a way, some of it was recon, getting some of the stories out of Lois and Clark. She tried prodding Oliver, but for some reason, he was oddly quiet.

But after hearing the sharp sound of Lois finishing the last of her milkshake, it was clear that everyone was ready to head out as Clark shuffled out of the booth. Lois soon followed suit, turning back to the two blondes still in the booth. "Clark and I have to stop off to see my dad at the general store to pick up decorations for the fall formal. Do you and Oliver want to come with us?"

Chloe was doing everything to not roll her eyes. Sam's General Store? Really? Clearly someone had a decent sense of humour when they thought of that detail. But that's when something clicked.

She was the last person who Chloe saw when she dropped off the thumb drive, and it would explain the presence and absences of certain people. Parents she could always assume, but siblings and past acquaintances, not so much. The more Chloe looked around, the more she realized that Zatanna wasn't done with messing with her yet.

Realizing that everyone was looking at her for an answer, Chloe shrugged, sticking to her initial excuse. "I should probably head home, Lois. Get a start on homework."

"You see Lois?" Clark said with a chuckle, "That's why she gets better grades than you."

"Hey! You're supposed to be on my side."

"See you two later," Oliver replied, not really wanting to be a part of their squabble. Waiting until the door closed before looking at Chloe, he asked, "You ready to go then?"

"Yeah, I think so." She watched as Oliver got out of the booth, gesturing for her to do the same, and he took her hand again, walking her to the door, giving him a chance to hold it for her again.

But as they walked down the street together, Chloe felt her nerves come back. Figuring out Zatanna was behind this didn't exactly help matters, because it usually meant doing the last thing Chloe could think of to get out.

"So Lois mentioned something about you having a headache earlier… are you doing okay?"

With her other hand, Chloe ruffled her hair slightly, hoping convincing Oliver would be just as easy as Lois. "I accidentally knocked my head, nothing a couple hours of sleep won't cure."

"Just be careful," he said, squeezing her hand a little more, "the last thing you want is a concussion."

That sentence caught Chloe off-guard, as a headache had Lois calling 911, but Oliver seemed relatively calm saying concussion. But instead of calling him on it, Chloe recognized her home, just barely, but it was enough. "Home sweet home," she said, hoping it was enough to get Oliver not to walk her up to her door.

Oliver nodded once before turning his head down the street. "I know we usually study together, but my parents need my help with something at city hall. Do you mind?"

It was the perfect out, but instead of using it to her advantage, Chloe blurted, "Your parents?" immediately shutting her mouth after saying it. How could she be so stupid? She had seen people who were dead in their world here, so how could she doubt that Oliver's parents could be alive too. Covering her silliness with a smile, she waved it off as if it was no big deal. "No, not at all."

He wasn't fully looking at her, but when she saw the smirk, Chloe felt a little nervous. "I knew it," Oliver finally remarked.

Chloe blinked, not exactly knowing what he knew. "Knew what?"

He took a couple steps towards her, causing Chloe to take her own step back, but he didn't back down. "Your definition of reality includes a lot more technology and technicolour."

His proximity made Chloe nervous, as she could feel his breath on her cheek, but she held her ground, albeit not well. "I... I don't know what you're talking about."

Standing over her, Oliver whispered, "Watchtower ring any bells?"


	3. Part 3

**Part 3**

Safe to say Chloe was a little stunned. All this time, Chloe figured that she'd have to suffer through this alone, but of all people Oliver was here with her. Why? What the heck was Zatanna thinking?

However, it wasn't just Zatanna that Chloe was thinking about, as Oliver's admission had brought up plenty of questions. Considering what he had done so far, part of her wanted to ask him:

_What the hell!_

But she shook it off. Oliver misled people for a living, not that was what he was doing to her, hence why he came clean now, but keeping up the facade... it was almost second nature for him.

Eventually Chloe found it within herself to chuckle lightly, breaking her silence. "So I take it that you have an affinity for the colour green?"

Oliver smirked at her, stepping back to give her a little space. "Took you long enough."

"In my defence," Chloe replied quickly, "you did kind of drop a bomb on my lap."

He titled his head, acknowledging her point, but he was grateful that Chloe was willing to trust him, despite the awkwardness of the scenario. "Any ideas on how we got here?"

"My best guess is our favourite mistress of magic decided to have a little fun."

"Zatanna, of course." Oliver considered the last conversation he shared with the woman, her offer for help. It seemed that Zatanna didn't believe him when he said that she didn't have to worry about this_._

Chloe sighed lightly, realizing there was plenty to figure out, and she was hoping to get started sooner than later. "You think you can delay what your parents need for five minutes?"

Oliver bit his lip, knowing that Chloe had indirectly called him on his lie. "Honestly, they don't need me. I figured it was the best way to determine whether or not I was alone in this place."

Chloe gave him a glare, but it wore away quickly, realizing that if she had Oliver's suspicions, Chloe would have done the same thing. "You know, you actually had me completely fooled until you suggested that I had a concussion. I'm not sure that anyone else in this town even knows what that means."

"Well, your uneasiness with the intimate stuff gave you away."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "And yet you persisted with it?"

"Sorry, but Clark...alt-Clark... who isn't that different from Clark-Clark." Oliver paused to roll his eyes. "Anyway, he's been hounding me for even talking to Tess a couple nights ago and it's hard to defend myself when I have no idea what I said to her. I played it up a little so he'd back off. Again... sorry."

"Don't worry about it, okay?" Chloe averted her eyes as she crossed her arms. "It's just... different, that's all. I mean, what universe decided that we'd be remotely good together?"

"I know, right?" Oliver replied, yet only half-convinced of his word choice. His relationship situation could be worse, and the fact that Chloe wasn't going to be alt-Lois-like, well, that alone was encouraging. "So what have you been able to determine?"

"Other than our newfound status, like you… my family's together and well. Lois… is not Lois at all, and I _really _want to get out of here before I have to sit through another lecture at that school." Peering up, Chloe asked, "How about you?"

"My father's the mayor and apparently I know how to play football here." He noticed Chloe swallow loudly as he mentioned the word 'football,' so he slyly grinned, not letting a particular detail go to waste. "Oh, and you must have forgotten the whole thing about you being a cheerleader."

"Not forgotten," Chloe quickly corrected him, pointing her finger at him, "but add that to the reasons my alternate self scares me. Apparently the reason I get mad is because you order the wrong flowers."

"In a weird way that makes sense." Oliver saw the surprise on her face, but he had meant what he said. "Last month you got mad at me because I ordered the wrong monitors for Isis."

"That was different."

Oliver laughed. "There was a negligible difference between the two."

"Hardly, the ones I wanted had a way better pixel aspect ratio, not to mention the size and width proportion allowed for an easier fit in the tight quarters." When her eyes met Oliver's again, she noticed how his expression hadn't changed, and that she had gone on a little techno-ramble. "Okay, point taken."

Peering quickly around him, Oliver asked, "Do you mind if we take this conversation inside? I feel like we're being watched."

Chloe nodded, more than willing to have a little privacy at this point. "So I'm not the only person who's creeped out by the neighbours?" Then it clicked, this wasn't exactly a concept for him. "Oliver Queen, right. Sometimes I forget you're famous."

"Is it wrong that I'm flattered that you forget that?"

"I don't know," Chloe replied as opened the door to her house.

They barely got inside when they heard a voice call out to them, "Hey guys, how's life?" Chloe and Oliver did a quick double take of each other, and then looked around them, only they couldn't find the source of the voice. "The television."

Oliver reacted first upon seeing the old set lit up showing a face they both knew. "Zatanna?"

Zatanna brought up her hands to show them in the screen. "The one and only."

"Good," Chloe said as she knelt down in front of the television, "someone who can get us out of here."

Oliver, however, knew that it wasn't going to be that easy. "Why exactly did you send us here in the first place?"

Zatanna thought that was obvious, but based on the reaction of the two blondes, she realized that she had to explain carefully. "Why? The same reasons I do everything."

"But we didn't wish anything," Oliver said, hoping she didn't misunderstand his meaning from the previous night.

"No, this one's on the house." Zatanna looked back to Chloe before adding, "You both have something to learn while you're here, which is why you're the only ones who got sent here."

"What?"

For two smart people, Zatanna was baffled by how dumb they were acting. "You had to have noticed the difference in everyone's behaviour, Chloe."

"No," Chloe immediately replied before clarifying her earlier comment. "I mean what are we supposed to be learning?"

It took everything Zatanna had not to laugh in that moment. "Seriously? You expect me to tell you?" When both Chloe and Oliver didn't react, Zatanna let a chuckle out. "You guys need to watch more television, then you'd know that would be too easy."

With that, the screen turned off, showing the reflection of the two people stuck in a world they didn't know.

Of course, that only caused Chloe to jump right into action, as she stood up quickly. "What did you do to piss her off?"

"Me?"

"Yes, you," Chloe replied, ignoring Oliver's wide eyes. She had her turn at blowing out the magical candle with Zatanna, and she hadn't regretted her decision for a second. "I've accepted Watchtower, wasn't that enough?"

"_Since you reaffirmed her faith in what she does as Watchtower, not that I blame you or anything, but she hardly lets anyone in anymore."_

Oliver shook his head. That had to be it, but how did he tell Chloe? If he accused her of working too hard, she'd blow him off, just like she always did. There had to be a way to convince her that she needed to let people help her... or at least take some time off for herself.

But the more he thought about it, the more he questioned it. Why did Zatanna send him here then? Zatanna said that they _both _had something to learn. What in the world could Zatanna see in Oliver that he hadn't noticed?

Before he could think of anything, the door opened to reveal Chloe's mother. It'd been a while since either of them had seen Moira Sullivan, and even longer since they had seen her smile.

"Mom!"

Moira was understandingly surprised by the strength of Chloe's hug, but she relished the moment. "I thought you were going to see your Uncle Sam after school today."

"I was," Chloe replied, remembering how Clark and Lois headed there after their get-together at the soda shop, but since discovering Oliver was with her here, it almost felt like it had happened ages ago. "But Oliver and I realized that we should get some studying in today, especially with the big game tomorrow."

"That's probably wise." Moira turned her head towards Oliver, giving him a wide smile, something that he had to admit, he wasn't expecting. "Oliver, always nice to see you."

"You as well Mrs. Sullivan."

"Will you be staying for dinner?"

"Probably not," Oliver replied, knowing that he should be heading back soon enough. "Wouldn't want to intrude on family time."

"Oh please, you're practically one of the family now."

He was surprised by the sincerity of her voice, but that was nothing in comparison to what Chloe said next. "Stay."

Oliver's mouth gaped open for a second, but he found his voice soon after. "I'd love to." Moira nodded and headed to the kitchen, likely to start preparing dinner, so Oliver turned towards Chloe, a little confused by her conviction for him to stay. "Are you sure about this?"

"We have to sell this while we're here, right?" Chloe said with a shrug. "And this way we can figure out more information about this place together."

Knowing he was treading on dangerous ground by asking this, Oliver nonetheless asked, "Do you have any idea how long we've been together?"

"Since I moved to town?" Chloe suggested, but based on Oliver's expression, it seemed he knew that wasn't true. "All I know for sure is that you also had a thing for Tess in this world."

"Yeah, but from what I've gathered, that ended before you got here."

Clark wasn't the only one lecturing him about Tess, as his father wanted to get Oliver's side of the story, and while Oliver told his father that he had nothing to worry about, the conversation fortunately filled in the blank on how Oliver met Chloe in this world.

It was her mother's first day on the job as his father's new receptionist, and Oliver had just stopped by to switch lunches with his father, but apparently as he was walking out, Chloe walked in to say hi to her mom.

Apparently, it got an immediate reaction from Oliver, as he watched her interact with her mom across the room, while he subtly read a newspaper. But Chloe was smarter than the average girl in town, so instead of using the front entrance, she took the side way out. Oliver, completely smitten according to his father, ran towards her to help carry her books, but Robert had seen the girl shake her head and walk out of city hall alone.

That apparently was about six months ago in this world, but knowing Chloe, she hadn't made it easy on him. Yet, somehow, things had changed, _they _had changed. How, but more importantly, why, were thoughts that went through his mind, but answers were limited at best.

As for Tess, he had only seen her once, but they seemed civil enough that it wasn't going to be a problem.

"Oliver?"

Hearing his name, Oliver turned his head to see Chloe snapping her fingers in front of his face. "Sorry, what did you say?"

"Where did you go just now?" Stepping even closer to him, Chloe whispered, "What do you know?"

"Nothing yet," he lied, not wanting to, but he figured it was best right now. After all, it wasn't like their "relationship" origin story was going to bring them back to Metropolis.

Backing away, Chloe threw her hands up in the air in frustration, wishing that answers would come to her. "Well, we're going to have to come up with something if we want to get out of here."

"Yeah... we do."

Yet there was something about this place that Oliver didn't mind; his parents were alive, his reputation was much more favourable. Sure, there would be no need for Green Arrow, but if Oliver was being honest, it could have been a lot worse.

But he knew Chloe was uncomfortable with the circumstances, and Oliver knew it was only a matter of time before he wanted to go back too. So he walked across the living room, walked next to Chloe and grabbed her hand, watching her head pop up as it always did when he offered support.

Giving her a sympathetic grin, he told her, "Don't worry Chloe, we'll find a way."

**~0~**

It felt almost surreal sitting at the table with Chloe's family. Sure, the whole thing _was _surreal, but Oliver couldn't name the last time he sat down at a table for dinner, to eat with a family, even if it wasn't his.

"So... Oliver, you excited about the game tomorrow?"

"Yes sir." Honestly, he was pretty nervous, because it wasn't like he practiced playing football, but based on the Phys. Ed. Class he had earlier today, Oliver wasn't awful either. He knew he shouldn't worry about letting the people down here, but this was his chance to see his parents, in a weird way, it allowed Oliver to show his parents the kind of man he became.

While being with Chloe was an interesting fact among the rest, she was a woman of substance, which meant they wouldn't know him as a heartless womanizer. They would see the good parts of Oliver's character, and the people he called his true friends.

It was also really nice to see Chloe like this, relaxed, happy. Sure, behind her eyes were still a sense of stress, but it was much less than usual, probably brought up by having her parents at her proximity. He could relate, but he couldn't imagine what was going on in her mind as she looked at the table and saw her parents together.

Swallowing the first bite of dinner, Oliver grinned, grateful that the food continued to taste better than it looked in black and white. "This roast is fabulous as always, Mrs. Sullivan." It was a stretch at best, but one Oliver was willing to take. Small talk wasn't easy considering the many facts they didn't know.

Moira grinned. "Oliver, you're too kind."

"Honey, he always compliments it," Gabe replied as he cut into his own roast. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say he plans to come when you make it."

"Oh I doubt he's not spoiled at home, are you Oliver?"

"No, I have it pretty great." Oliver only hoped he was right, as back when his parents were alive in technicolour, cooks covered the cooking for the most part. His mom would cook from time to time, and Oliver couldn't remember being disappointed, but if his lunch at school was any indication, it wasn't like his mom was a bad cook. "Nothing as bad as Chloe's cooking."

"Hey!" Chloe glared at Oliver after his not-so-subtle comment before poking her fork into her potatoes. "I have you know I'm a specialist at putting cereal in a bowl."

"Yet you always complain that it's too soggy."

"Dad!"

Gabe just shrugged. "Sorry pumpkin, but your boyfriend's right."

The rest of dinner worked just like that, and it was almost as if it was their world. In fact, Oliver was shocked at how easily rapport came between him and Mr. Sullivan, considering he had never met Gabe in person until now. But as the plates were cleaned up, Oliver excused himself, knowing that he had his own family to get home to.

"Are you sure that I can't convince you to stay for dessert?" Moira insisted as she watched Oliver put on his shoes.

"I'd love to, but I should get going." He hadn't expected to have as much fun from this, but it had been so long since Oliver had spent any time with his parents, and this morning hardly counted as 'quality time.' And considering Oliver knew he and Chloe weren't going to be long, he wanted to enjoy time with his parents as long as he could.

"Well," Moira said with a smile, "I'll let you two say goodbye."

Chloe peered over her shoulder, waiting for her mom to disappear back into the kitchen before saying, "I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah," Oliver replied as he leaned to kiss her cheek, seeing the darker hues on her cheeks as he backed away. "We have to sell it," he reminded her, noticing Moira poking her head out after Chloe turned her head back.

Knowing that he was right, Chloe whispered back, "I'll try to get used to it," watching Oliver grin as he closed the door behind him.

* * *

><p><em>Sera's Scribbles: I apologize for the update delay; I had some technical difficulties with my internet. <em>


	4. Part 4

**Part 4**

Another hour, another day in this life that Chloe was trying to accept. However, today she walked into the school alone and stared ahead in the hallways, not wanting to know if others were staring. Chloe had to focus now that she knew what was going on.

That didn't make the narrowing down of lessons any easier though. Her life was fine right now, nothing glaring in her face when it came to abnormalities or failures. It may not have been perfect, but in her experience, it was pretty darn close.

She was over losing Jimmy, over the loss of what she thought was her dream, she had accepted the different path she had taken. Besides, what could a high-school crazy-esque "paradise" have anything to do with her _and _Oliver's lives?

Opening the locker, Chloe sighed as she pulled out her books, but when she noticed Lois not moving in her peripheral vision, she knew something was up. "I know that look cuz. Spit it out, please."

Lois uncrossed her arms, more than willing to ask her question. "Is everything okay with you and Oliver?"

They were mentally confused as heck, but all things considered, Chloe figured they were okay. So she closed her locker and said to Lois' face, "Of course."

"It's just that, yesterday you two seemed," Lois voice trailed momentarily as she tried to find the exact word, made difficult by the fact that Lois hadn't exactly seen Chloe and Oliver so, "distant."

Chloe smiled and quickly reassured her cousin. "Everything's okay," which was technically true now that they were on the same page. Two heads working together hopefully would make getting out easier, as Chloe was trying not to attached to a fantasy, because that's all this was.

"Good," Lois replied as she slipped her arm through Chloe's as they headed towards their class. "because if you two can't make it, what hope does it give Clark and I?"

"Oh come on Lois... quarterback, lead cheerleader... you're the real power couple."

Nodding, Lois bumped shoulders with Chloe as they continued down the hallway. "But you're dating the mayor's son... close second in my book." As they entered their classroom, Lois took notice of the flyer near the door. "So fall formal's next week. When are we going dress shopping?"

Chloe's expression soured, as her memory of school dances back in Smallville were less than perfect. But she sucked it up and gave a genuine suggestion. "Tomorrow?"

"We can't go tomorrow silly." She turned to look at her cousin after sitting down at her desk, only to see confusion all over her face. "You forgot didn't you? We have a double date tomorrow."

Chloe wanted to roll her eyes, but instead just opened up her books to what she assumed was the right empty page. She could handle the lack of cell phones and wireless technology, but Chloe figured that Zatanna would at least give them books. "Right... it appears you know more about my schedule than I do."

Reaching across the desk, Lois grabbed one end of the book and flipped it over to slam it shut. Seeing Chloe's expression, Lois just shrugged. "That's what I'm here for, to make sure you don't keep getting lost in your books."

"So when am I free?"

Suddenly more excited, Lois pulled out her day planner. After a couple moments of silence, she poked her pencil at a particular point that Chloe couldn't see. "Saturday afternoon." She looked back up at Chloe and added, "We both know that Oliver's taking you some place special on Sunday and we can cover both events with one outing."

Chloe was tempted to ask about the Sunday date with Oliver, but she held back, hoping Oliver would have answers. However, the town was basic, and Chloe had even toured the place in one day. She figured she would have seen someplace special within the area, but nothing really clicked.

But when Lois realized Chloe's silence had gone on for a little too long, her curiosity for details won out. "Oh please, you can't play naive with me. You were positively beaming about it earlier in the week." Chloe continued her silence, as she had no idea what to tell Lois, but fortunately, her cousin wasn't quite finished. "Then again, who wouldn't be excited about going to Crater Lake?"

Chloe's first thought was: _Swimming? In fall?_ But again, she bit her tongue, realizing that maybe there was something different about Crater Lake that Chloe didn't realize. But that didn't exactly answer any questions. Geography of Metroville had been extensively taught in yesterday's class, and Chloe didn't remember there ever being a mention of Crater Lake.

**~0~**

As lunch rolled around, Chloe entered the cafeteria alone, as Lois had plans with Clark elsewhere. Her bagged lunch in hand, she walked through the room towards the table with the only familiar face.

"Seat open?" Chloe asked, gesturing to the seat next to Oliver.

He simply smiled back as he moved some of his books to the other side. "For you? Always." Oliver watched as Chloe sat down before asking, "Any interesting news on the alternate-Chloe front?"

Chloe opened up her bag and started to take out her lunch. "Only an update on our social calendar." Her sandwich was the basic ham and cheese, so she had a quick bite as she noticed Oliver doing the same. "Apparently we have a double-date tomorrow and a big date at Crater Lake on Sunday." Chloe noticed Oliver stop eating, trying to cover up a cough, which seemed weird, but she pressed on, "The way I see it, if we're still here, it might be the perfect opportunity to delve into theories without getting disturbed."

"That's one way of looking it," Oliver replied sarcastically, caught off-guard by how calm she was about this.

However, Chloe was just confused. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Oliver was about to have another bite, but that question got him to stop. Turning his head to look at Chloe, her expression said it all. "You have no idea what Crater Lake is, do you?"

"I don't see the big deal that you and Lois was making it out to be, but I think I'd have a better idea than you do." After all, Chloe was the one who grew up in Smallville. However, she wanted to cover all of her bases early. Chloe didn't care what her alternate self was like, when it was just her and Oliver, her actual standards would be upheld. "If you think you're seeing me in a bikini, let me tell you that you're seriously mistaken."

That wasn't remotely on Oliver mind, although he nodded to acknowledge the point. He narrowed his eyes trying to figure out how he was going to explain this to her. "You really don't..." Voice trailing, Oliver realized that not telling her was the best method. It probably wouldn't work, but it was worth a shot. "You know what? I'll just pretend I'm sick or something."

Turning in her seat, Chloe crossed her arms, surprised at how secretive Oliver was being. "Oliver, you might as well tell me what the heck is going on."

Well, Oliver could at least say that he tried. "It's, kind of, like a... lover's lane." He turned his head to watch Chloe's jaw drop slowly as she processed his broken sentence.

"Oh."

Oliver just smirked. "Yeah, and considering you and I are..." Oliver's voice trailed again after gesturing between the two of them, finally settling on "not." Once he said the word, Oliver couldn't help but roll his eyes based on how bad it sounded. "I think we can both agree that it's probably best to cancel."

The entire time Chloe had been fairly quiet, as she ate her lunch and analyzed everything Oliver had said. She wanted to agree, but instead she said, "No."

It took every bit of Oliver's strength not to spit out the water he had just sipped. He took a second, and finally was able to swallow. "No?"

Based on Lois had said, this was something that her cousin would never leave her alone about if it didn't happen. There were things Chloe had to do in order to not arise suspicion, and Oliver said himself... they had to sell it. "I mean, we won't actually do anything, but it still works... we can talk alone... try to narrow down this whole thing."

"You're sure?"

"Oliver... think about what we've gone through together. It's a fake date, what's the worst that could happen?" Looking around, Chloe was quickly reminded of the PG-ness of the place, which made her answer even easier to bear with. "Furthermore, it's hands-holding central... people probably just talk at a lover's lane anyway."

He was downright shocked, but Oliver held it back and nodded. "Okay then."

_It's a... date?_

Seeing that the eyes of the lunch room had come their way, probably Zatanna's not-so-subtle clue that they were being watched, Chloe decided to deal with the charade, taking Oliver's hand in hers as she looked to change the subject. "By the way... I know what you said to my dad, but you seemed a little nervous about tonight."

Surprised at the contact, Oliver squeezed her hand gently as he gave his reply, "A little. I didn't exactly get much father-son catch time when I was little."

Chloe frowned, but it was quickly replaced by a smile as she reassured him. "You'll do fine."

He noticed her smile, so he couldn't help but grin back. "I know, after all, there are certain... _benefits_ to tonight."

Chloe blushed, the implication not lost on her as she took her hand back. "Don't get your hopes up."

"Chloe Sullivan, afraid of a little uniform," Oliver replied with a slight chuckle. "It's cute actually."

"Little is an understatement." When Chloe had been informed of her cheerleading status, she had riffled through her closet, hoping that Zatanna had accurately portrayed the traditional long sleeve, long skirt combination. Chloe saw within seconds, she wasn't so lucky.

Looking back up, she stuck her finger up in Oliver's face. "If you do as much as breathe this to –"

Moving the finger away, Oliver interjected, "And miss the shade of red your cheeks turn when someone actually tells you how attractive you are?" With a further glare from Chloe, Oliver backed off, releasing her finger from his hand. "Fine, my lips are sealed." Satisfied, Chloe got up and was about to thank him when he added smugly. "For other people. I won't guarantee anything when it's just us."

**~0~**

Five minutes. It should have been enough time, but apparently Chloe needed more. Unfortunately for her, patience wasn't exactly high on Lois' list of qualities. So after pacing the main floor entryway, Lois headed upstairs and knocked hard on Chloe's door.

"Chloe, I'm coming in."

"Lois?" Chloe asked from inside, "I... need a minute."

"Oh no," Lois replied as she pushed the door open to see Chloe expectantly covering her midsection with her arms. She had seen this before. "No, not this again."

Not thinking, Chloe blurted, "Care to narrow that down?"

Rolling her eyes, Lois began to walk over to her cousin. "Your stupid insecurities, put your hands down now."

Then again, Chloe didn't exactly have a choice as Lois reached out and pried Chloe's arms away. It was moments like this that Chloe saw her actual cousin in this version of Lois. Every now and then, her bluntness would shine right through, and go figure, it comes around with skimpy outfits.

Which this was. Despite what seemed to qualify as respectable clothing most of the time, this definitely seemed a little risqué. Of course, it was for Chloe to think that way, while Lois seemed cool as a cucumber.

Sensing that her cousin's comfort level was decreasing by the second, Lois broke the silence. "Don't make me get Oliver again." Her head then jerked back before she turned towards the doorway. "On second thought..."

That sprung Chloe into action, slamming her bedroom door as she cut off her cousin's path. "Lois, that's not necessary."

Lois just laughed as she crossed her arms. "Geez cuz, you acting like he's never seen you in that uniform before."

_That's because he hasn't!_

But Chloe couldn't voice that thought, they had to play it cool for at least a little while. Sure he would see it soon enough, but Chloe figured that prolonging it would make it easier, which wasn't the case. Knowing that there was no way around it, she gave in. "Okay, let's go."

She followed Lois to the front door, insecurities riling up as they got there, so much that Chloe didn't even grab a coat. Walking down the street, Chloe was expecting cat calls, so she attempted to cross her arms over her chest, but Lois would smack her arms away and mutter something about acting naturally, an idea easier said than done. Chloe didn't really know her alternate self, because while there were obvious similarities, the differences weren't exactly easy to pinpoint.

Going through the school did nothing to ease Chloe's nerves, even when the other cheerleaders crowded around her and Lois. In fact, that was when she heard it.

A whistle. Chloe wanted to roll her eyes, at least grateful that her back was towards wherever the whistle came from, but when she noticed the other girls were grinning at her, Chloe realized it wasn't going to be that easy.

She risked turning around, and sure enough, there was Oliver grinning at her while giving her a knowing look. She waved at him quickly, hoping that would be enough to get him to stop looking at her like that. Fortunately, Oliver did mockingly wave back, but soon after, he joined up with the rest of the team, so Chloe let out a nervous chuckle before turning back to the girls, her face undoubtedly red... or it would have been if it was possible.

At first, there was nothing, but then Tess of all people broke the silence. "You're lucky. He never looked at me like that."

**~0~**

It was funny, as Chloe went to school in a small town, one where football was embraced, but for some reason, the celebration when the Metroville team won was like nothing she had ever seen. Everyone stood up, cheered loud, and it took Lois about half a second to drop her pompoms to run over to Clark, her quarterback in glistening jersey. That said, Chloe couldn't help but smile as she watched them interact, as it felt like something out of a sports movie, two people in love meeting in the middle of the field, unaware of their surroundings, just of their happiness.

Feeling a hand on her side, Chloe was brought back to reality and peered up to see Oliver standing next to her with his arm wrapped around her back. "It's good to see that they figured it out here," he said looking in Clark and Lois' direction before turning to look at Chloe.

Tilting her head towards them, Chloe couldn't resist asking, "You're not jealous at all?"

Oliver just shrugged. "It was nice while it lasted, but I don't think we would have worked out."

It was what Lois had told her months ago when Oliver had first moved to town, but at the time, Chloe didn't buy it. She always thought that Lois was reason number one for Oliver's relocation, but seeing him now, Chloe could tell, they were over.

"Thanks for keeping the PDA to a minimum."

"No problem," Oliver replied, "the last thing I want is for my girlfriend to be uncomfortable around me." Letting go of Chloe, he faced her as he began to walk away. "For the record though, the uniform," he said giving her body a quick look, "It's flattering, but I don't think it gives your body justice."

With a smile, Oliver turned around to join the team in celebration, leaving Chloe alone on the sidelines shaking her head, letting a grin slip.


	5. Part 5

**Part 5**

Walking out of the movie theatre, Oliver and Chloe quickly took their leave from the very content couple that was Clark and Lois. The town was small, so they knew they wouldn't be alone for long, but after awhile, space was golden.

At least, it was a beautiful night, not that Oliver or Chloe had seen otherwise. It also helped that they didn't have to really look over their shoulders as they walked around. The only worry was their word choice, as the last thing they wanted was to draw suspicion, but otherwise they could act more or less naturally.

Turning the corner, and knowing that Lois and Clark were out of earshot, Oliver broke the silence as he brought his arm back to his side. He had to admit that he didn't mind draping it around Chloe's shoulders, but more than anything, he wanted her to be comfortable. "Well... that wasn't a complete disaster."

Chloe nodded. "I admit, I expected worse."

The entire time Lois had been hounding Chloe to relax and what not, so when Chloe finally relaxed on her cousin's terms, Lois backed off. The double date was a little awkward initially, but as time went on, Chloe and Oliver both caught on, and had to admit, she did have fun.

It started at the bowling alley, a quick game where Oliver bailed Chloe out in the couples match-up. She sat back with Clark as Oliver and Lois competed, just like clockwork. That gave Chloe her first real chance to talk with Clark alone. He was the same, as his personality worked perfectly here, but it was killing Chloe to ask him if he could do anything special. She held back, for now, but what bothered her during that time was actually Oliver.

He kept looking back every couple of minutes, giving her a slight smile, acting like everything was okay. It wasn't like Jimmy, or any guy in her life who assumed a jealous stance when it came to Clark, because Oliver and her were just friends. But it still felt like he was looking after her, making sure Clark wouldn't hurt her, even here. She was a big girl, long over the silly crush she had, and actually quite happy for Clark and Lois here. Why couldn't he see that?

Chloe was able to push those feelings aside as they continued walking, but Oliver had caught the souring expression. Something was wrong, and he wasn't about to finish the night like this. He looked up and noticed the Kent's soda shoppe coming up, and figured, if nothing else, a little sugar would pick up her mood. "Want a milkshake?"

Chloe smiled, remembering the fun times they've had there so far, but she shook her head. "Ollie, you don't have to."

"Okay," Oliver said as he grabbed her hand, waited a second, and then walked her towards the soda shoppe. "Now I'm doing it anyway."

She could have just said no, and Oliver would have kept walking, with no problem. If she didn't want to talk about it, Oliver would respect her privacy. But Chloe had this tendency that no one had to do _anything_ for her, and it absolutely baffled Oliver that she didn't think that she deserved more.

Chloe soon picked up her pace, showing Oliver that he didn't have to drag her there; Lois did that enough. Besides, seeing the Kents like this was really nice.

The bell on the door chimed as always, but the place was relatively empty, unlike most of the times they had visited it in the past. Granted, it was getting kind of late.

Martha Kent said hello as they came inside. "How was the movie?"

"Not bad," Chloe lied, as the movie wasn't exactly her taste. "But the highlight was watching Lois and Oliver go at it at the bowling alley."

"Some things never change I see?"

"I can't help it if she keeps score," Oliver rationalized, as apparently Lois and him had been pretty competitive, even as kids in this town.

Martha laughed before she remarked, "You _both_ keep score, trust me Oliver."

He shrugged, as he could only provide what he knew. It wouldn't surprise him in the slightest if he matched Lois' competitive streak. "Well, we'll have two chocolate milkshakes when you have a minute."

"And some fries," Chloe added just as Martha was turning away. She got off her stool to head towards their booth when she noticed Oliver's expression. "What? I'm hungry."

Oliver just grinned as he followed behind Chloe. They got caught up in conversation for a couple minutes before Jonathan Kent brought out their food, getting the quick recap for himself. But as he was leaving, Oliver dared to steal the first fry, which didn't sit well with Chloe as she slapped his hand, causing him to drop it.

"I paid," Oliver said.

Chloe countered as she picked up the fry for herself, "I ordered," happily depositing the fry into her mouth.

Glad to see her spirits up, Oliver asked, "So how was it talking to Clark?"

He knew that they hadn't exactly had a chance to talk, and honestly, he wanted to see Chloe's reactions to the slight differences in Clark. There wasn't much, except the switcheroo in best friend land, something that still boggled Oliver's mind, but he didn't exactly tell Chloe that was the case. Chloe definitely had a harder time getting adjusted to the world, and him filling in the blanks wouldn't help her. She needed context, which is something Oliver couldn't give. Besides, he didn't want to expose the fact that Clark was overbearing to him instead of her, Oliver just figured that he'd let her enjoy the freedom.

But when he saw Chloe's expression fall, Oliver knew he had done something wrong.

Initially, Chloe had bit her tongue after the question, but she managed to sound rather calm when she said, "Cut the crap Ollie and ask what you really want to."

"I was genuinely wondering how it was for you to talk with alt-Clark," Oliver immediately replied, not sure where this came from. And then it hit him.

During the bowling game, Oliver would look back at them, glad to see a positive interaction between the two. Since Chloe came back from Black Creek, there was almost constant animosity between the two friends. He knew he had been caught a couple times, as Chloe met his eyes on more than one occasion, but Oliver never figured she'd pick up an actual motive behind it.

So he met her eyes and asked, "What _should_ I be asking?" knowing there was definitely a reason for that comment.

Except now Chloe felt a little guilty. She had overreacted to the whole thing, and now it had backfired in her face. She felt her face warm up as she sipped her milkshake quietly. "Nothing."

It wasn't nothing, but with that single word, Oliver was able to put together the pieces. Reaching out, Oliver placed his fingertips over her hand on the table. "Whatever there might still be with you and Clark, and I'm not even saying there is something, but I don't think there is... it's none of my business."

"I know," Chloe replied, but for some reason it felt good to hear it from someone else, instead of her words always being questioned. "You're my friend, and you... _get _what's going on in my life." Realizing that Oliver _knew _that, she rolled her eyes, but as she looked up, she noticed the intense look in his eyes. Chloe realized that this wasn't exactly the time for this conversation, but while there were no distractions, she wanted to get this off her chest.

"I've been thinking with this whole thing, and... I'm wondering of whether I ever explained it... Clark, you guys, my life, properly to Jimmy." Her screwed up social life was no secret, and it was being shoved down her throat via her cousin. Something told Chloe that if Zatanna ever met Lois, they would get along quite well. Or constantly argue, Chloe wasn't really sure of the difference.

But Chloe had tried, even considered getting married, except to this day, she doubted where her and Jimmy really stood. "Is it true? That he looked for me?"

Chloe didn't have to elaborate, as Oliver knew she was relating to her disappearance at Black Creek. "Yeah," he replied honestly, but not with optimism. "But he gave up on you." Oliver didn't like saying it, but he really thought Chloe had moved forward from that. "I liked Jimmy, but no offence, that alone shows that your relationship had an expiration date."

Again, not the brightest thing to say, but that wasn't what Chloe needed to hear. It had been months since she had come back, and Oliver looked at her, realizing that fallout might have been a contributing factor to her reclusiveness. Granted, Oliver never expected the words she'd say next.

"Except I thought about saying yes."

He had an idea of what that meant, but Oliver's mouth gaped open initially, before double-checking. "To what?"

Chloe couldn't believe it, Oliver looked dumbfounded over something she thought was obvious. "Jimmy proposed."

It was the answer Oliver expected, but he wasn't expecting that turn in the conversation. Oliver was still fairly new in town, but from the sounds of things, Chloe and Jimmy were shaky at best. From what he saw, the foundation clearly had cracks, but Oliver was the last person to suggest to someone what they should do with their social life, considering his stellar past.

For now, all he could ask was, "When?"

"Right before Black Creek, literally." She narrowed her eyes before adding, "He never said...?"

Oliver shook his head. Sure, he wasn't exactly tight with Chloe's ex, but he figured a development like this would have been mentioned at some point. "I had no idea."

Chloe could understand that, after all, _she _never mentioned it either. All this time, Chloe figured that people were just trying to be nice about the whole thing, when in fact, no one had a clue. "He never got an answer from me because I was being dragged away from the Department of Domestic Security... or so I thought."

Dipping her fry into the ketchup, she stared at the consequence and then dropped it down. It was twisted, but all she could see was blood. The memory of how Clark almost died, and suddenly, Chloe couldn't help. "I don't what it is about my life. The moment I think I have it all figured out, the world reminds me otherwise."

Suddenly feeling less hungry, Chloe pushed the fries further from her. "The worst part is... once I see it, I wonder how I didn't see it before." She let out a sigh as she slouched down at her seat in the booth. "You're right, Jimmy and I... it probably would have gotten worse if we'd seen it through but I was too blinded by the normalcy he gave me to realize that."

"Then you..." Chloe added as she pointed at Oliver, but she scoffed soon after, not really sure where she was going with that comment, so she switched directions, "I don't know why you even bother giving me Watchtower."

"Just stop right there," Oliver said plainly. Manoeuvring his fingers to grab her hand, Oliver pulled Chloe up, so she sat upright in her seat. He could see the surprise in Chloe's eyes as he moved her, but Oliver wanted to say this to her face, to remind her of their situation. "Zatanna said from the start that we both need to learn something, so how much do you want to bet that it's the same thing?"

They were in this together, and sure, between the two of them, there was plenty of baggage, but there was no need to go down this road anymore. He could see that he had Chloe's attention now, so Oliver added, "So stop blaming yourself for things you can't change anymore."

Chloe took in what he said, knowing how right he probably was, but for some reason, she couldn't quite do what he asked right away. "She could just be trying to be nice by giving me company."

Oliver rolled his eyes, not caring if Chloe saw it. "Nah, I doubt that." His hand still encased in hers, Oliver squeezed it gently, trying to reassure her that, "Your life isn't as messed up as you claim it to be. Having problems is what makes us human, normal even."

That got Chloe to take her turn to roll her eyes. "Oh come _on_ Ollie, what could possibly be wrong with your life?"

With a scoff, Oliver replied with another question. "You're not seriously asking that are you?"

That was all Chloe needed to see how off she was right now. All Oliver was trying to do was cheer her up, and she responds by giving him an ignorant comment. So she replies with a convincing, "No."

She sees Oliver opening his mouth to say something, but she cuts him off by adding, "That comment was uncalled for. I'm sorry."

Of all people, Chloe knew exactly all of the problems Oliver faced. Losing his parents at a young age, being painted as a person he wasn't, and often being underestimated by the people he worked with, whether it was Clark or QI employees. After being photographed by so many tabloids and newspapers, the world thought that they understood Oliver Queen, but they had no idea. In fact, they weren't even close to understanding him.

Oliver looked across the table at Chloe, her face feeling more guilty by the second, and he realized that, while tonight was likely progress in a weird way, it was time to move the conversation in a different direction.

"Well, if you want to make it up to me," Oliver started, as he risked going for the fries again, a grin slowly gracing his features, "I think we're going to have to get some practice for the next couples bowling tourney."

He knew to expect a reaction from Chloe, and he wasn't disappointed by the narrowed eyes and raised eyebrow combination. But Oliver just shrugged, casually playing up the conversation change, trying to get her to smile again. "What? You were shooting gutters all night, and I'd be more than willing to give you tips."

Chloe bit her tongue, holding back the laughter she wanted to let out. However, she couldn't hold back the grin anymore, which help dissipate the nerves she had been feeling before. But with that, Chloe noticed Oliver still eating her fries again, and that simply wouldn't do. So she hit his hand again, taking them back happily. "You're impossible."

Oliver's grin widened upon seeing Chloe's mood lightening up, "Yeah, but you're still stuck with me." 

**~0~**

Chloe had tried every excuse in the book for why dresses weren't working. It felt wrong to be doing this, to buy something for an event she wasn't even going to. That is, if the world worked in her favour, which Chloe wasn't one hundred percent sure would happen. After all, anything goes in Zatanna's world.

At this point, she was just tired of trying on dresses, but Lois insisted after she found hers on the first try. "Lois, I look ridiculous." What was also ridiculous was that Chloe was pretty sure that they'd run out of dresses soon. The store wasn't that big. The consolation was that at least they wouldn't be leaving empty-handed. Lois had picked out an ensemble for her date with Oliver that Chloe didn't hate, so that was taken care of. But the fall formal dress felt like a lost cause.

Lois dragged Chloe out of the small changing room so she could see her better. "You look just fine. This is the fashion that going around these days."

"Says who?" Chloe fired back, wondering how trends would be determined in a place like this.

Lois thought about it for a minute, but then she started laughing. "You know what? I have no idea." She soon caught her composure and looked at her cousin again. "I can't believe I'm going to say this... but you're right."

The dress didn't fit her right at all, and Lois knew that the next size up or down wasn't going to cut it. In fact, none of the dresses had that 'it' factor that would match her cousin's personality and beauty. Even though Lois was hoping not to admit it to Chloe, none of the dresses had been right so far.

Surprised by her cousin's admission and sudden silence, Chloe narrowed her eyes at Lois to give her a questioning look. "I am?"

Lois nodded as she turned her head back towards the store. There was a dress at the front window that much more her cousin's style. It was a little out of her budget, but if it would better Chloe's attitude, Lois could always talk to her boyfriend for the extra cash. After all, he'd be by to pick Chloe up any minute for their date anyway.

With a grin, Lois took a step back, "Oh yeah, I've got just the dress this time." Oliver was going to flip when he saw Chloe in this dress, Lois was sure of it.


	6. Part 6

**Part 6**

Chloe leaned her head against the headrest, staring at the sky as Oliver took off in the white convertible. It, the sky, wasn't different, but for a few minutes, it soothed her as they headed off to Crater Lake.

To the town's lover's lane, with Oliver.

She had to laugh at that, wondering where on earth Zatanna got the idea that Crater Lake was anything like that, not to mention sending her and Oliver there. Then again, if this place, and Zatanna's plan made sense, they wouldn't be here.

Seeing the trees replace the familiar buildings, Chloe peered over at Oliver, who was simply looking ahead as he drove on. "How do you even know where you're going?" She asked, thinking she had a valid point, but Oliver gave her a concerned eye before pointing his finger towards her side of the road. Sitting properly, Chloe noticed in front of her a sign dictating the distance, albeit small, to their destination. "This was not on the map in class."

Oliver chuckled as he turned the wheel so the car followed the curve in the road. "You actually pay attention?"

He'd be lying if he said that he cared about what was going on in class. Even though he wanted his parents to be proud, being a model student wasn't that high on his priority list, not that it mattered. Oliver played along with the charade, providing answers when he zoned into conversation, and he passed the couple of assignments he forced himself to do in the week they were here, which reminded him of the paperwork that he had to do in Metropolis. He could only hope that there wasn't going to be more waiting for him when they got back to Metropolis, but Oliver was in no rush to figure that out. He just hoped that Zatanna knew what she was doing.

Chloe, meanwhile, had just scoffed at his off-handed question, peering out her side of the car as he kept driving. "I figured I might get a clue."

"From how you talk about Mrs. Albury's mono-tone, not likely."

Again, Chloe found her head tilting up, this time out of the frustration of the said mono-tone. "I can't even imagine taking more than a week of her classes." Then again, there was also the subject matter of her talks. Let's just say that Chloe was glad she wasn't born in these times, for while her life was in limbo professionally-wise, opportunities for women here were slim at best. "I mean, my mom's the receptionist for your dad and she thinks it's too forward thinking."

"How?" Oliver asked, his eyebrows furrowing as he tried to understand the logic. "She's a teacher."

"I don't know, but I'm not wasting my time trying to figure her out. It's frustrating enough as it is."

Oliver grinned; reminded of something her cousin had disclosed to him a couple of days ago. "I figured, based on the fact you spent Friday afternoon in the principal office."

Chloe's mouth gaped open, but she gave up on trying to hide it. "I'm going to kill Lois." Hearing Oliver laugh in response, she smacked him on the arm. "This isn't funny."

Seeing the turn-off ahead, Oliver did a quick shoulder check, even though he hadn't seen a car the entire time on the road. "Oh come on, if this is the hypothetical mark on your clean slate, trust me, you're doing better than the rest of us." If nothing else, she was miles behind Oliver when it came to deliquent behaviour, but he wasn't about to bring that up as he pulled into Crater Lake.

Both took note of the other cars around, and as the car pulled to a stop, they realized how bad of an idea this was. Oliver looked again to his left, seeing the two cars that joined them on that side, both a fair distance away, but he swallowed hard, knowing there was no way this couldn't be awkward. The other couples just stared ahead like dolls.

Breaking the silence, he deadpanned, "Well... this isn't creepy at all."

Chloe's mouth opened slowly as she nodded in agreement. Eventually, she sighed, combing her fingers through her hair. "I should have let you cancel."

Reaching towards the key still in the ignition, Oliver peered in Chloe's direction. "We can always drive back."

"No," she replied, hitting his hand away from the keys before smacking her back against her seat again. "because Lois will hound me thinking I screwed up."

They maintained silence for a couple more minutes, but Oliver again decided to interject conversation. "We could always go for a walk."

Chloe's head jerked back. "What?"

"There are some trails around the lake. Nothing says we _have _to stay in the car." Oliver pointed his thumb towards the back of the car. "I also packed a little lunch...we could have a picnic or something."

"And you decided to tell me this now?"

Undoing the buckle of his seatbelt, Oliver turned to open the door of his car. "It was the back-up plan... eating at the town park." He walked to the back of the car, opening the trunk and pulling out the old-fashioned picnic basket. "But if you think Lois is going to be picky about _where _we eat... I suppose we could find a place here."

Chloe too undid her seatbelt, but she didn't get out of the car. Instead, she pivoted to face Oliver with narrowed eyes. "You actually considered a back-up plan?"

Oliver just shrugged, walking around to the passenger side of the car. "I figured you'd change your mind about this date."

Raising an eyebrow, Chloe asked, "Then why did you pick me up?"

Opening her door for her, Oliver held out a hand to Chloe, replying honestly, "This gave us a chance to leave Metroville for awhile... and just be us."

She stared at his hand, then peered up at Oliver, whose face held a casual smile, so she took it as she rose from her seat. "A solid point... lead the way."

After leaving the car, Chloe closed her door, but her hand lingered in Oliver's as he led her towards the path. She could have let go, but the thought never actually crossed her mind. Eventually, she found herself leaning against his side, so Oliver maneuvred his arm to wrap around his shoulders as they stared at the scenery around them on the pathway.

"It's beautiful here," Chloe said softly.

Oliver nodded in agreement before peering down to see the overall peace in Chloe's expression. "Is it like Crater Lake in Kansas?"

At that, Chloe couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Not even close." This place was more like a dream, almost an intimate paradise, which was fitting considering what Crater Lake was supposed to be according to Metroville.

They took a couple more turns on the trail, almost absent-mindedly as the soothing nature of the walk took away a reason for logic in their decisions. At the end of their wandering, they came out at a different place at the lake, about a third around from where they started, if Chloe had to guess.

She left Oliver's hold and looked around, a smile gracing her features. "It's places like this that make me wish there was colour here." Being fall, the leaves would be multiple colours, and as beautiful as this place was, colour would only make it more so.

Oliver just stood back as Chloe took off her shoes, her stockings, and dabbled her toes into the lake. It was like looking at a different person, the lighthearted look in her eyes, the way her body language dictated the lack of internal walls put up.

After a minute of splashing the water with her feet, Chloe looked back at Oliver, narrowing her eyes at the odd look on his face. "Are you joining me?"

Oliver shook his head. "I'm fine, thanks."

Chloe nodded, pursing her lips as she processed his answer. "Chicken."

"Is that so?" Oliver asked back, mischief in his voice.

"Unless you prove otherwise," Chloe said with a shrug.

It didn't take long for Oliver to react, as he shrugged off his jacket, followed by his shoes and socks. "Challenge accepted, Sullivan."

He walked carefully towards the water, and Chloe watched him closely, not wanting him to catch her off-guard, but that didn't seem to be his intent. He just stared back at her as the water barely covered his feet.

"See?" she teased him, "Was that so hard?"

"Funny," Oliver replied as he lifted his toes up and down in the water. "Water's quite nice."

With a chuckle, Chloe said sarcastically, "Oh, because nothing else in this town is." She started to walk further into the lake, but she wasn't watching where she was going, so before she could catch her balance, she felt herself trip over an abnormally large-sized rock.

Chloe had pushed her arms out to break her fall, but the free-falling sensation didn't last long. Looking down, she noticed Oliver's arm wrapped around her stomach, holding her in place.

"You okay?" he asked as he pulled her back up to a standing position.

Turning back towards Oliver, Chloe rolled her eyes, not quite believing that she just did that. "Fine, just a klutz moment."

Oliver tilted his head towards the shore. "Had enough water fun for today?"

Chloe gave her reply in the form of a grin, and carefully walking around him to get back to the shore. As she approached the sandy beach, she looked down, noticing how much of her skirt had been below the water surface.

"Don't suppose you have a towel in that basket?" Chloe joked, hearing the water sloshing behind her.

"Just a blanket," Oliver replied, "you kind of kyboshed the idea of swimming remember?"

"Right."

"The sun should dry us off though," Oliver quickly pointed out. He had picked up his pace, walking around Chloe to get to the basket first so that he'd have the blanket set out for her by the time she got there.

She was delayed a little to pick up her abandoned footwear, but she looked up in time to see Oliver starting to set up their little beach-side picnic. Chloe had to admit, she felt flattered by the effort he put into this. Maybe because of how awkward it might have been, but Oliver always had this was of relaxing her, no matter where she was. Silently, Chloe thanked Zatanna for bringing Oliver here with her. Company sure made the journey easier, even if she was nowhere nearer to figuring out why they were here.

"After you," Oliver said, gesturing towards the blanket, so Chloe obliged and sat down, waiting for him to do the same.

From there, they snacked on the sandwiches and fruit Oliver had brought, sipped on the freshly squeezed orange juice that his mom had insisted that he take. The sun was starting to set, but neither of them were in any hurry to move.

Feeling content, Oliver lied down on the blanket, staring up at the sky. He had fun today, he had to admit. It wasn't much, it wasn't complicated, but it was the simple entertainment at its finest, something that Oliver barely got to experience. It almost felt like a moment of innocence in a life that Oliver never really got to live.

And that's when it hit him, that Chloe wasn't the only one who was busy. Between work and Green Arrow business, Oliver didn't have a lot of time for himself, or to have fun. While he made the night out at the Ace of Clubs for the guys, he sat by himself, making sure everyone else was okay.

Not even looking at her, Oliver said softly, "We don't do this a lot, do we?"

Drinking the last of her orange juice before setting it down, Chloe asked back, "What's that?"

Oliver turned to his side, placing weight on his elbow as he leaned his head against his hand. "Take time off."

Chloe averted her eyes from him momentarily, her fingers trailing down the blanket. "Is that why you think Zatanna sent us here?"

"It was a theory."

"She did hear you say that I needed a night off." Chloe leaned back, her hands facing away from her, as she peered in Oliver's direction. "Why were you so insistent on that, by the way?"

Oliver considered all of the ways he could answer that question, but he decided that the truth was best at this point. "You spend a lot of time at Isis..."

Hearing Oliver's voice trail, Chloe shrugged, knowing that he didn't have to finish his sentence for Chloe to get the message. "I tried having a social life and I saw it blow up in my face."

"You," Oliver started, but quickly stopped to determine the right words for what he wanted to say. "You just need the right person."

But all that did was get Chloe to roll her eyes again. "I gave up on the idea of the 'right person' a long time ago."

Except when Oliver said that, he never meant that romantically, so he pressed on. "I'm sure Lois would jump at the chance to spend time with you." Sitting up, he added, "We could hang out like this in Metropolis."

"I have fun," Chloe insisted.

Not wanting to push the subject further, Oliver conceded, "It's clearly something else, anyway. We would have been back by now if it was."

"Yeah, you're right," Chloe replied quietly, tempted to change the conversation, but the weather did that for her.

The clouds were coming in like Chloe had never seen in her life, and within seconds, rain began to fall down. As it poured down, Oliver sprung up and began to pack up his stuff. Chloe attempted to fold the blanket, but Oliver took it from her hands, followed by him grabbing her hand so they could find refuge from the rain under the trees.

It was decent enough cover, but Chloe remembered a very important fact. "Oliver... your car."

Oliver cursed internally, remembering that the car was a convertible, so he began to lead her back down the trail they had taken. A few places look familiar, but eventually, he had no idea where he was going.

"Do you remember which way we went?"

Chloe shook her head, but she turned her head and saw a small gazebo not far down the path. She tilted her head, showing Oliver, before she took off to take refuge from the rain. Normally rain didn't bother her, but she'd prefer to stay dry than go on a wild goose chase.

Oliver followed quickly behind her, figuring whatever damage to the car would already be done, and staying dry seemed like a better option.

"You remember it ever raining here before?" Oliver asked as he shook the rain out of his hair once he got under the roof of the gazebo.

Chloe was as surprised as he was to see this, so she replied honestly. "No."

"Well," Oliver said as he set up the blanket on the floor, "we might as well make the most of this." The blanket wasn't overly wet, and it provided a warmer seat than the wood floor.

"Good idea." Chloe sat down nearby, staring as the rain poured around their little shelter, but despite a strong front, she couldn't resist a single shiver. Some of her lower body was still a little wet, and the wind that had rose up with the rain wasn't exactly keeping her warm.

But Oliver had seen it, so he picked up his jacket from atop of the jacket and moved himself towards Chloe. He draped it around her shoulders and then reached forward to pull the excess blanket over their legs for warmth.

Initially, Chloe had been surprised by the contact, of the feeling she received as his fingertips barely grazed her shoulders when he gave her his coat. She considered shrugging it off, giving it back, but knowing Oliver, Chloe knew that he'd insist on her wearing it. So she held back, once again leaning against his side, this time for body warmth.

That made it Oliver's turn to be surprised by the sensation that flowed through his veins, especially when Chloe placed her hand on his knee. But Oliver didn't back away, instead he pulled her closer, hoping it would help warm her up as the rain kept up around them.

It wasn't exactly what he had in mind when he had picked up Chloe for this date, but for some reason, Oliver didn't seem to mind the difference.


	7. Part 7

**Part 7**

Heading back to her bedroom, Chloe plopped on her bed and closed her eyes, just wanting a little peace for tonight. It was almost hard to believe they had been here for two weeks, but then again, Chloe never really got a night off between school functions, double dates, and other events. But tonight her parents were out, so she had the house to herself and Chloe had every intention of enjoying it.

That was until she heard her window vibrating in odd intervals. Opening her eyes, Chloe looked and noticed how the wind wasn't blowing, but for a second, Chloe saw something hitting the window.

So she got off the bed and approached the window, raising her eyebrows as she caught Oliver in the midst of performing a throwing motion in her front yard. He had caught her eye just in time, so he brought his arm down. Narrowing her eyes, Chloe opened up her window. "How old-school movie clichéd of you."

Oliver shrugged a shoulder, a sly grin coming across his lips. "To be honest, I always wanted to try it." Of course, that wasn't the complete reason. Peering towards the front door, Oliver laughed as he spent a couple minutes standing there knocking. Knowing that she was home, Oliver backed up and tried a different technique.

Chloe gave a quick chuckle before taking in his appearance. "What's with the suit?" In Metropolis, Oliver almost always wore a suit, but here... here he hadn't yet.

He blinked at her a couple times, not believing that she was serious. "Fall formal... I'm kind of your date, remember?"

She did remember that he was her date, but she had forgotten that it was tonight. Besides, it wasn't like Chloe was looking forward to it. "You can't be serious."

"Come on... it could be fun." Oliver said genuinely as he tossed the stone up into the air, catching it again with ease. "Besides, I don't think filtering through empty pages is going to bring us back to Metropolis."

_A fair point_, Chloe thought. No matter how hard Chloe wanted the books to fill in, they never would. The only thing that made sense now was that empirical experience was the key to getting back to their world. Which unfortunately meant this dance could be helpful. "Fine, give me five."

Chloe closed the window and looked at the mirror. Her hair didn't look awful, so she figured that she'd give it a brush through, and it would have to do. Heading to her closet next, Chloe pulled out the hanger of the dress from her shopping with Lois. It was a beautiful dress, and it looked great on her, but Chloe was convinced that she would never wear it herself. It wasn't exactly the normal little black dress.

The cleavage was a little low for the times, but when it came to clothes, Zatanna didn't seem to care about appropriateness. The jewelled accents that lined underneath her bust and her straps were likely something cheap, but it still worked. Slipping it over her head, Chloe watched as the material fell to her feet, suddenly feeling butterflies in her stomach.

This wasn't like before, like any of the double dates, or even Crater Lake. This time, Chloe was legitimately going on a date with Oliver Queen. Sure, there were extenuating circumstances, but that didn't change what was about to happen.

Touching up her mascara, Chloe figured that her five minutes were just about done, so she slipped on her shoes, fortunately a manageable size heel and began to descend the stairs. Standing in front of the front door, Chloe took a deep breath before reaching for the doorknob, turning it.

Opening the door slowly, she averted eye contact as she stepped out, closing the door before she looked up, finally seeing Oliver's flabbergasted expression. "What?" He didn't do anything; he just stood there with his mouth open as he looked at her. Staring at her feet, Chloe said softly, "I look terrible, don't I?"

"Quite the opposite actually," Oliver countered as he took a couple steps towards her. "Lois said she found a great dress for you, she wasn't kidding." Taking her hand, he slipped on the corsage he bought, and without thinking, kissed it softly, before bringing his head up to meet her eyes. "You clean up nice Sullivan."

He watched as the familiar blush came across her cheeks, but he ignored it as he helped her down the steps. "But it's not green," she said, almost in a whisper.

Oliver chuckled at her little quip, still holding her hand as they walked down the street. It was a nice night, and for some reason, Oliver didn't want to take the car. "Contrary to popular belief, I do like other colours." He turned to see Chloe's expression, raised eyebrow and skeptic eyes, so, playing along, Oliver added. "And for all we know... it could be green."

**~0~**

Staring at his cup, Oliver couldn't help but wonder if he was really caught drinking the metaphorical kool-aid. He knew this wasn't Zatanna's intention, but there was something about this place that calmed him, and Chloe too. Oliver couldn't remember the last time she seemed so... happy. Normally a smile was also laced with a hint of bittersweet or stress, but now, her walls seemed to be slowly coming down, so much that she even relaxed tonight.

Even dancing with Clark right now, she wasn't nervous, she was just... Chloe. For some reason, Oliver couldn't take his eyes off her, the light that she brought to the room, the simplicity of the way that her smile brought something out of him.

"It's like falling in love with her all over again, isn't it?"

Oliver blinked a couple times, turning to face Lois. "What is?"

Lois rolled her eyes, not wanting to play into what seemed to be a sudden case of obliviousness on Oliver's part in her opinion. "I love my cousin, but she doesn't let her hair down much. That's why I love you in her life." She took a step back, leaning against the punch table as she stared ahead at her boyfriend and cousin dancing. "I know that Clark said that she'd be a waste of your time, but I'm glad you went for it."

Oliver nodded, not entirely sure what Lois was trying to accomplish, so he only told her what he could. "She never does make things easy."

Letting someone in, it was one of the last things Chloe would do. In a way, it was almost a miracle that she let Oliver in at all, but Lois addressed that with her next comment.

"No, but you were too persistent for her." Lois truly believed that Oliver was Chloe's match when it came to these things. "We all know that when she gave up on everything, it was you that got through to her."

Lois stared down at her hands, reminiscing over who her cousin had been when she came to town. Quiet, reserved, content in the shadows, yet somehow, she had always caught Oliver's eye. Maybe that was what made them a great couple. "We all try our best, but, you two... you're really something special."

All Oliver could do was stare back, but there plenty of thoughts going through Oliver's head as he was listening to Lois. While this wasn't the perfect re-creation of the world both he and Chloe knew, it had some things in common. Was this really the way Lois would think of him in Chloe's life? Was this the message Zatanna was trying to send?

**~0~**

Chloe wasn't sure what to make of this moment, dancing with Clark. So far so good, as there was no necessary rush to saving a damsel from a tornado. But oddly, Chloe was appreciative for this, a chance to relive a defining moment in her life that didn't exactly end well. It gave Chloe the opportunity to have closure when it came to her feelings for Clark. They had been dwindling for a long time, but this really helped Chloe feel that door closing for good.

Which is why Clark caught her off-guard when he did eventually speak. "Have I ever told you that I told Oliver not to bother pursuing you?"

No would be the obvious answer, but considering Clark's personality, the concept didn't surprise Chloe. "You do have a tendency of being overprotective."

He had this annoying habit of making Chloe feel invisible until someone else noticed her. Well, at least it felt that way. But at the end of the day, the guy was still her best friend, and he at least meant well.

Clark nodded, knowing the validity in what Chloe was saying, but he defended his stance on the relationship. "You were new in town, and he had just broken up with Tess." Clark remembered Oliver's initial reaction to Chloe, the progression of the relationship, and how to him, the feelings felt a little one-sided initially. "You didn't give him the time of day, so I figured that he could do better."

_Wait_... _he had a problem with her?_

Not really thinking, Chloe blurted, "He probably can."

"No, I was wrong."

Chloe blinked as she looked up at the man she regarded as _her _best friend back in Metropolis. "Really?" Clark admitting he was wrong happened, but it didn't happen often. It didn't help that Chloe was still trying to understand that he wasn't trying to protect her.

"You guys... fit better than I thought." Clark gave a quick peek up to see Lois talking to Oliver across the room. "Don't get me wrong, Oliver's my friend, but he had a tendency of having short-term relationships." Looking back at Chloe, Clark wanted her to understand he thought that, "You're different though. I think you're probably the best decision he's ever made."

Taking a breath, Clark twirled her on the dance floor before adding, "These last couple of weeks, I can tell that your feelings for him have grown, that the love and respect between you two is stronger than ever."

And with that, half-way through the twirl, Chloe released Clark's hand and bolted towards the gymnasium doors.

She heard Oliver call her name, but she just kept walking, not sure if she could look him in the eye anymore. Everything was so clear now, and Chloe couldn't help but feel stupid. It wasn't a _what _that they were here for... it was a _who_.

Oliver and her being together in this place, it was no accident. The subtle pushes, the people who know them giving them full support, it was all there, but it wasn't until Clark threw up the white flag that it clicked for Chloe.

But that didn't make things any better. Oliver and her were friends, co-workers. Them, a couple, it only made sense in a place like this, where a guy like Oliver had little to no options in the dating category. The real world was huge, and within it, hundreds or thousands of women fit Oliver's type better than she did. And besides, Oliver was her _boss_, they shared a proper camaraderie, so she didn't see him that way.

_Did she?_

Sure, he was an attractive man, but that wasn't why Oliver and her were friends in the first place. He led a company by day, and by night, led a group of underestimated and underappreciated heroes. Oliver Queen played the world for suckers, so no one really saw how intelligent he truly was. Except for the people who knew him best.

Like her.

"Chloe, hold up." Chloe squeezed her eyes shut, obliging Oliver because she knew she couldn't outrun him, or even out-walk him. When he caught up to her, he asked, "What was that?"

Oliver had seen the entire thing pan out, and while he wanted to ask Lois further about what she thought about him and Chloe, he held back as Chloe fled the scene. He approached Clark, demanding he tell Oliver what he said, but Clark insisted that the last thing he had told Chloe was a compliment. Oliver wanted to know more, but he didn't have time, so he ran out of the school, wondering what could have caused Chloe's reaction.

"Bad memories from my actual high school dances," Chloe lied, hoping he would believe it, "I had to get out."

Oliver watched Chloe as she looked back at the school. It was almost as if a switch went off in her mind, as she looked like she was going to be sick. He reached his hand towards her, but before he could touch her, Chloe peered over her shoulder and recoiled away from him.

"Sorry, I thought you were getting used to that."

The sad thing was that he was right. Chloe was getting used to his little touches, their little moments when their situation just floated away, and it was just them. But now, she knew that she couldn't risk getting used to it.

"What's the point Oliver?" she whispered, but loud enough that he could hear it. "Nothing is real here. It's just a big fantasy to get these ideas in our heads, but none of it translates to... to the real world." Chloe wasn't stupid, she knew that she was trying to convince herself as much as Oliver, because the truth was that Oliver had gotten to her, which was the last thing she wanted, because in her mind, there was no way it was mutual.

But by looking down, Chloe couldn't see the hurt look in Oliver's eyes. "Is that what you think?"

"How can't I?" she replied immediately. "Everything that's here, it can't happen in Metropolis. Your parents are dead, my parents are more or less gone, and all this is, is a masking of the things we can't have."

Chloe paused as she remembered that wasn't quite true. "I mean, sure, Clark and Lois, a slight possibility in all this, but otherwise I think Zatanna's been watching too much television."

"Maybe," Oliver said, trying to appease her, but also trying to maintain an open mind to the whole situation. Reaching his arm out to wrap around her shoulders, he felt her shake a little, but she stayed there, so Oliver breathed a sigh of relief, hoping everything had blown over. "Even you have to admit, this situation, it could be a heck of a lot worse." She had admitted as much before, so this shouldn't have changed.

But it had, so Chloe shrugged off Oliver's attempt to make her feel better, throwing his arm off her. She really couldn't handle his touch in this moment. "I really don't see how." Continuing to walk forward, Chloe eventually didn't hear his footsteps pursuing her. "Oliver?"

She turned around, and saw Oliver walking away from her, his head dipped down. Chloe considered calling out to him, but she stopped realizing how he must have taken what she had said. That hadn't been her intention, because the only reason Chloe hadn't lost her mind before was because of Oliver. But she couldn't tell him the reason they were here; there was no way Oliver saw her that way. Then again, Chloe was pretty much convinced that it may take a miracle for Oliver to look her at all. Her stupid emotions had caused Chloe to accidentally turn away the one person she could rely on in this place.


	8. Part 8

**Part 8**

If it wasn't official then, it was now. Oliver was mad.

Chloe had barely seen him all weekend, all morning at school, and when she did, it was a quick glance, a counterfeit smile, and that was it. She could tell that Lois had enough of her sighs and defeated expressions, so it didn't surprise Chloe when her cousin sat beside her at lunch, determined to get some truth from her.

"Okay cuz, what the heck happened?"

Chloe peered up, looking across the cafeteria where Oliver sat. After awhile, Chloe realized he needed space, so she gave it to him, not wanting to make things worse. "I said something really stupid and he's angry at me."

That didn't really help Lois. It didn't explain why Oliver was so down in the dumps, a look not often seen in this town. "What did you say?"

"It's complicated." After all, how could she explain that she's from a different world, only here because a witch had too much time on her hands, and the only way out is to convince her in-town boyfriend that he actually likes her? Well, how was she supposed to explain it and have Lois believe her?

So didn't surprise her in the slightest when Lois scoffed. "That's not possible. Nothing's complicated here."

Chloe started poking at her food, suddenly feeling less hungry. "Well... this is."

While Chloe seemed insistent on being difficult, Lois looked up at Clark as he sat next to Oliver, hoping that he'd be able to figure out what happened. Both parties believed that silence was the best solution, but the only thing it seemed to accomplish was confusing the people around them. For a second, Lois locked eyes with Oliver, and she tried to communicate with him with her disappointed eyes, but it didn't work. He just looked away again.

"Look cuz, I get the whole hard-to-get mentality, but Oliver doesn't deserve that anymore." Lois rolled her eyes when she realized that Chloe was ignoring her too. The difference was that Chloe couldn't get away with it. Not now. "He could have any girl in this school if he wanted, but he doesn't because even a fool could see the chemistry you have. Why do you insist on messing with it?"

"It's not like that Lois." In Chloe's mind, there was nothing to mess with in the first place, and if there was, she wouldn't mess with it. But there wasn't, all this was the 'reality' that Chloe was stuck in these days.

Except seeing the defeat in her cousin's eyes made Lois even more concerned. "You haven't been insecure about Oliver since before your first date."

Chloe met that with a scoff, as she closed her eyes, hoping that a magical memory would appear out of nowhere. It didn't.

But Lois seemed more than willing to fill in the blanks. "Remember how he closed up the main park so he could line the trees with icicle lights? How he picked you up for a simple picnic dinner in his most casual wear because he wanted you to be comfortable?"

Chloe could only smirk lightly at the description, and it seemed to satisfy Lois before she continued talking. "Me, being the supportive cousin I am, shoved you out the door, hoping you'd take a chance, and three hours later, I saw you kiss him goodnight."

Lifting her head to look at him again, Chloe let out a small grin. "Sounds amazing."

_Sounds like Oliver._

Clark seemed to have brought his spirits up, as he was laughing again, a welcome sight for Chloe. Oliver had an infectious smile, and she couldn't keep the joy she felt from showing in her face.

Understandably, Lois noticed the way Chloe was staring, and shrugged casually as she finally started eating; feeling like her job was complete.

**~0~**

Sitting in front of the television, Chloe stared at her hands, which held the remote, even though Zatanna didn't seem to need any remote to tell her to grace the screen. "So how does this work?" she muttered, "Abracadabra maybe?"

"I prefer you calling me by name, but if clichés are your deal, that's fine."

Chloe jumped in her seat as her eyes met the screen. "I wasn't expecting that to be so... _efficient._"

Zatanna shrugged, although it hardly showed on the television screen. "Well, I happen to enjoy this program." Her eyes soon narrowed as she deliberated her words. "Or at least I used to." It was safe to say that recent events didn't go exactly as planned. It was so close, but Chloe couldn't see it. But she would, that much Zatanna knew for sure.

However, Chloe wasn't going to make it easy for her, sighing before saying, "Then take me out of here."

Once Zatanna knew Chloe had figured it out, she expected a little negotiation on her part, but unfortunately, hers was a request that she couldn't grant. "Doesn't work like that."

Chloe knew it wouldn't be easy to convince Zatanna to do anything, but she had to try. If they went back to Metropolis, this whole thing could be labelled as a dream. Things could go back to normal. "I know why you sent us here and..."

"Doesn't work like that either," Zatanna interjected, knowing whatever Chloe was going to say wasn't going to accomplish what she wanted. "Talk is cheap in this world. You have to do something in order to come back."

Do something. Do what exactly? As it stood now, Oliver wasn't talking to her, and they had already been there two weeks. It really didn't seem like things could get better. "But it's _pointless_. We're... friends."

"And I'm just an ordinary magician." Zatanna shrugged again, knowing that Chloe wouldn't be happy with her, but the spell only worked if there was something to work with, and Zatanna knew they were close. "You have to fix your little spat if you want to see colour again. That may sound like a threat, but it's just reality."

**~0~**

_Here goes nothing._

Chloe stood in front of Oliver's door, figuring that with his parents around, he would at least attempt to talk to her, maybe even let her apologize. Because Chloe did feel guilty about what she had said, and she wanted to make things better with Oliver.

Taking a deep breath in, Chloe held it as she knocked in the door loudly, hoping there was a way things could take a turn to the positive.

Hearing steps coming towards the door, Chloe prepared herself for everything, the words she planned to say if Oliver opened the door. But it wasn't to be. Instead, she found herself face-to-face with Laura Queen. It was hard to believe that this would be their first meeting, especially because Oliver had already met Chloe's parents twice. But things had been hectic, and Chloe couldn't deny that she still had a hard time believing she was currently in the presence of Oliver's mother.

She looked exactly like the one picture Chloe had seen of Laura Queen, as Oliver wanted to remember his parents, but not dwell in their loss. It was something they shared in a weird way, as although both of Chloe's parents were alive, she didn't want to dwell in the fact that she had a strained relationship with her father, and her mother... well, she couldn't help her condition, but it didn't make things easy.

"Chloe," Laura greeted her warmly, stepping aside so that Chloe could come inside.

"Hi," Chloe replied as she entered, "Is Oliver around?"

Laura shook her head, turning her head over her shoulder as she closed the front door. "He's helping at city hall, but he should be back in about a half hour." Noticing the overall agitation Chloe was feeling, Laura narrowed her eyes, but decided against asking how she was, instead heading towards the kitchen. "I just put on a pot of coffee. Why don't we have some while we wait?"

"Coffee?" It had been ages since Chloe had consumed what she long considered her addiction, let alone hear the actual word.

Laura gave Chloe a quick smile as she pulled out a couple of mugs. "Our little secret, right?"

Chloe remained silent as she watched Laura pour the mugs full, passing Chloe one before Laura would take the first sip from her cup. Initially, all Chloe could do was stare at the brown liquid in the cup. Before, the substance was like her liquid courage, her way of pushing past obstacles, and now... now it felt different. She couldn't help but breathe in the familiar aroma, feeling the satisfaction the smell brought to her, but something felt missing.

Leaning against the door frame, she was reminded of what that was. Go figure it was related to the reason she had stopped by. Initially, Oliver would just stop by with a coffee from her favourite cart, insisting that she drank too much of the stuff, but he wasn't going to complain if it got him results. Eventually, he bought a high-end cappuccino machine for Isis, but Chloe would always forget to use the thing, so Oliver ended up teaching her how it worked. Yet that didn't stop the coffee runs because he knew how much Chloe relied on the stuff.

Finally risking a sip, Chloe finally opened her eyes, reminded of how stupid she had been since coming here.

"I know it's none of my business, but is everything okay between you and Oliver?"

Taking another quick sip, enjoying the chance to enjoy coffee for as long as possible, Chloe replied, "I wish I could say yes." She followed Laura out of the kitchen, settling on the living room couch, placing their respective cups on the table. "I just... I got a little carried away after the fall formal and indirectly insulted him. But I never meant to insult him. He's..."

_He's not the problem._

Wanting to finish that thought, Chloe leaned back against the couch. "I know I wouldn't be good enough if circumstances were different."

Laura took a minute to let Chloe's words sink in. "It's a tall order, the status that comes with Oliver in this town, and from what I remember, you tried to blend in, hide yourself from everyone." Picking up her mug for a quick drink of coffee, Laura added, "But Oliver always saw you, and I'm glad he did. You taught him humility, taught him to appreciate the little things in life."

"Your son is a very special man," Chloe said quickly, not realizing what she had just admitted. Then again, that didn't make it any less true, because Chloe doubted her so-called effect on Oliver's traits. He survived just fine before he met her, and she was going to point that out when Laura's words took her breath away.

"We're very proud of him."

Chloe opened her mouth a couple times, wanting to dictate how much that would mean to Oliver, wondering if he knew himself about this, and so many other emotions. But she settled on, "He's so happy to know that."

"But we're proud of you too Chloe," Laura quickly pointed out. "To be honest, you've been a blessing to all of us."

**~0~**

Not the ideal day sure, but spending time with his father was something that Oliver always treasured. While mayor wasn't exactly the equivalent of inheriting a global company, it seemed that Oliver was destined to follow in his father's footsteps. It was... different to say the least, having the guidance here. Sure, Oliver had an entire board of directors to help him figure out Queen Industries, but that was different too. Here, Oliver was grown up, and having that natural bond along the way, well, it made learning about something he'd never use at least a little worthwhile.

He had to hand it to Zatanna. His parents were exactly as he remembered them to be, and even though Oliver didn't want to let go of them, he was grateful for the chance to see them as an adult, even if it was through an alternate world.

Opening the door to his 'home,' Oliver was about to greet his mom, let her know that they were home, only to stop in his tracks as he noticed the other blonde in the room.

"There are my boys," Laura said happily, getting off the couch to give both Oliver and his father a hug.

"Afternoon dear," Robert replied, giving his wife a kiss on the cheek. Taking off his coat to put on the rack, he smiled in Chloe's direction. "Chloe, it's wonderful to see you."

Feeling suddenly guilty for being intrusive of the family moment, Chloe was surprised to hear her name, but she stood up quickly, approaching the door carefully. "Same here Mr. Queen."

"Oh, please, we've gotten past those semantics ages ago." To Chloe's surprise, he pulled her into a tight hug, slapping her back lightly as he backed away. "You know you can call me Robert."

Letting a chuckle out, Chloe nodded. "I'll... keep that in mind." But her happiness dissipated as she sensed the stare coming from Oliver. She swallowed hard, hoping that they could fix what Chloe had screwed up. "Oliver."

Taking a quick look between the two, Laura realized it was probably best to give them privacy, especially after what Chloe had admitted to her. "Robert, why don't we let the young ones talk?"

Oliver thought about saying something along the lines of them leaving not being necessary, but staring at Chloe, he realized they had to talk at some point. It might as well be now. Taking off his shoes, he walked around her, further away from his parents' ears. This was likely going to turn into a conversation he didn't want them to overhear.

Still facing the door as Oliver continued to walk away from her, Chloe whispered. "How are you?"

Oliver barely heard her words, but he scoffed. "Peachy."

"I... was hoping to talk about the other night. I—"

"Don't worry about it," Oliver interjected, not really wanting to relive the events of that night. So being here with him sucked. It just meant they'd be stuck here longer than they thought.

But that answer wasn't good enough for Chloe. "You avoided me all day and you made it clear that it's bothering you, so I'm worrying about it."

Oliver was skeptical about that. Everything was about lowering Lois' suspicion level, or 'selling it,' so much that Chloe couldn't see what they actually had when no one else was around. "Why?"

Rolling her eyes, Chloe turned around, not surprised to still see Oliver's back still to her. She took a couple small steps towards him, asking with hope, "Would it kill you to let me apologize?"

"Apology accepted." He had heard her steps towards him, which may have been why Oliver replied so fast. "Happy?"

Seriously? That was what he was asking? Chloe couldn't believe Oliver's behaviour right now. Usually he was much more understandable than this, so Chloe stood her ground, wanting him to at least accept her apology to her face. "I'll be happy when you believe me."

"Then say something believable," Oliver shouted as he turned around, first glaring at Chloe, then making sure that his parents didn't come in and interrupt their conversation. After a minute, Oliver figured Zatanna had control over that, but he nonetheless lowered his voice before he spoke again.

"Chloe, I'm trying here, but you have to stop pushing me away just like you do everyone else." At Crater Lake, he had told the truth, but he had played it too safe. There was no holding back now. "The moment I think you're ready to join the real world, you recoil back into the imaginary, and that's not a reference to this place."

Oliver looked around at black and white around him, colours that didn't suit Chloe, as he liked to think that Chloe and him were shades of gray. But with that choice, they sometimes talked around the problems they had instead of stating them outright. It was easy when they were around people like Clark, but after being hurt so many times, they censored their thoughts around each other.

But here, they were stuck until...well, until they figured out a mission that seemed impossible. Lois' subtlety wasn't considered a strength anywhere, and the world seemed to stop once he had walked away from Chloe. Oliver wasn't an idiot, their 'lessons' were connected, _they _were connected, but Chloe wasn't likely to consider him as an option in that category.

There were too many obstacles, all of which Oliver could refute in front of her face, but she'd never give him the chance. In a place that reduced the world down to their inner circle and a few strangers, Zatanna wanted to show how much they had come to care for each other. But Chloe, ever the pursuer of the worst case scenario, was fighting it. And Oliver wasn't sure she'd ever see it genuinely.

Once he risked a glance in her direction, Chloe tried apologizing again. "I am sorry." Oliver wanted to say that he believed her, but before he could say anything, Chloe added, "But I wasn't completely wrong was I? Everything here more or less are figments of a reality." This time, Oliver wanted to interject, but Chloe stopped him by holding a finger out. "Which means that to me, you're the only thing that's _actually _real."

Hearing that, Oliver's expression softened, as he hadn't been anticipating that admission. He watched her as she walked over to the couch, falling hard against it, her eyes clearly looking at the floor. He wasn't sure how, but somehow the air of the conversation had shifted.

"I've been taking having you here with me for granted," Chloe said softly, knowing that if she had someone like Oliver in high school in Smallville, things would have been different, Chloe would have been so grateful. But everything was clouding her judgement. "In fact I think I take you for granted in general."

Oliver waited for more, but when Chloe's lips hadn't moved, and her posture hadn't changed, he raised an eyebrow, saying with concern, "Please tell me that there's sarcasm in there." He knelt down in front of her, looking up at her. "Chloe, I think you're overreacting in the other direction now."

She didn't understand where he could have gotten that idea, because she didn't know what Oliver saw in her that allowed him to give Chloe that chance. "When I lost everything, it was you that gave me a job, and you go out of your way to see me, even when I want to hide from the world. The kindness you've shown me... I don't deserve it."

"Seriously?" He honestly couldn't believe what Chloe was telling him. Chloe had always been hard on herself, and sure, what she said stung a little, but seeing her like this made Oliver realize that he had overreacted too.

Chloe thought about Oliver's question, and nodded. "Everyone thinks I'm _special _in your life. I just don't see it." For a second, there was a pause in the air, followed by a quick chuckle by Oliver. She looked towards him, wondering what possibly could be so funny.

Noticing her raised eyebrow, Oliver answered to her unspoken question. "I can't believe the one person who has never judged me for being Oliver Queen, who just sees… me… thinks she's taking me for granted."

Oliver took this moment to sit down next to Chloe, but instead of looking at her, he stared straight ahead. "Most people… when they find out my secret, they think 'No way it's_ this _guy.'"

But not Chloe, as Oliver would never forget the way she called him on his 'green leather fetish,' and how a single reporter from Smallville had narrowed down Oliver's biggest secret. "You just march on in, make like it's no big deal and move on."

And she did just that, fitting in naturally with the boys, and quick to jump on board when Oliver offered her a full-time position. "You're incredibly loyal, and you've been nothing short of an asset since joining the team. In fact, the only thing you've done wrong in my eyes is sell yourself so short." The reason for that was easy, and Oliver decided to subtly say, "You also have terrible taste in men, but that aside, you're one of the strongest people I have ever met."

Chloe, feeling speechless on everything that Oliver had just admitted, smirked in response. Feeling the tension dissipate as they continued talking, she couldn't resist a little quip. "Does my terrible taste in men include you?" He seemed surprised by the comment, so Chloe decided to clarify by pointing out their current scenario. "You know, with…"

Oliver scoffed. "Course not. That comment was reserved for past relationships." Noticing how Chloe was staring at the cup in front of her, Oliver realized that she had found her way back to coffee. He lifted the cup towards her, adding casually, "By which I mean Clark can never know."

She accepted the cup with a grin. "That would require me _actually _dating him," Chloe pointed out between sips, "so I think you're safe."

Oliver was glad to hear that, not the admission of her 'protecting' Oliver from Clark, but this refuted the idea that Chloe didn't at least see him as a possibility. She wasn't saying anything outright, but Oliver could tell, her defences were finally down. "By the way, if you won't believe it when others say it... maybe you'll believe me." Knowing this would be the best time to say it, Oliver carefully placed his hand on Chloe's knee. "You are special in my life."

"So are you," Chloe replied as she covered his hand with hers. It was rare for Chloe to have someone in her life that listened as much as Oliver, even though he was apparently someone different. "You're supposed to be this badass narcissist, but behind the caricature in the papers, you care more about what happens in the world than anyone else."

"I'm still badass," Oliver countered with narrowed eyes.

"Yes," Chloe conceded, "a badass in tights."

"Leather."

"Fine, leather tights." Chloe felt her smile widen as Oliver leaned his shoulder against hers, knocking it slightly. Her laughter died down, and she looked at Oliver again, sitting where Laura was not too long ago. She considered the words the elder Queen had said, and even though it felt intrusive for her to say the words, Oliver deserved to hear them. "They're proud of you."

Oliver had an idea of whom she meant, but he asked to be sure. "Who?"

"Your parents," Chloe quickly replied. "I don't know if they've told you in person, but I wanted to make sure, in case we get of here soon, that you know at least that."

They hadn't, not verbally. There had been moments where they've shown it, but hearing Chloe affirm that, it brought pride to Oliver's heart. "Thank you."

Chloe blushed, not expecting gratitude in that moment. "Hey, you're the one who gets the credit here."

It was probably wrong for Oliver to let out a single chuckle as he noticed the now-familiar grey hue came across her cheeks, but he did. She was never great at taking compliments. "So are we okay?"

With a smile, Chloe replied, "Yeah, I think so."

"Just one more thing," Oliver said as he stood up again. "You mind spilling what got you to run out of there so fast?"

Despite their progress, Chloe didn't have the heart to tell him the truth yet. If he found out, he was related to the reason she ran, it'd be back to square one. "Not really," she managed as she pushed herself off the couch and looked up at him hopefully.

Oliver wanted to know more, but he didn't press it, shrugging lightly. "Fine."

But Chloe wanted to be sure this time, instead of letting something else get out of hand. "Fine, as in…?"

"I'm willing to forgive and forget," Oliver clarified. "Just keep in mind what I said, okay?" He watched her smirk a little, acknowledging his comment. Approaching her carefully, he wrapped a hand around her forearm gently. "And I'm here if you change your mind."

"I'm grateful for that." She took his other hand in hers, squeezing it gently, but never taking her eyes from his face. "I honestly don't think I could manage being here by myself. Or with anyone else for that matter." Seeing Oliver smile as a result, Chloe internally felt grateful to Zatanna. Going back, there was no guarantees that 'normal' was a possibility, Chloe knew that now. And seeing the way Oliver looked at her just drew her in further, a feeling Chloe didn't want to give up on just yet.

Reaching up to cup his cheek with her hand, Chloe whispered, "Thank you," but not even Chloe anticipated what she would do next. Leaning on her tiptoes, she kissed Oliver.

It was a second tops, and there wasn't anything much to it before Chloe came back to her natural height, but she had kissed him. On the lips. And he was just staring at her blankly, not exactly making this situation easy.

She could have just made a quip about their current status, but that wasn't the truth, and Chloe didn't want to lie to Oliver more than she had to. Instead, she said what she could, even though words were difficult at this point. "I... I don't know why I did that."

He opened his mouth to reply, as Chloe held her breath to whatever he was going to say, but instead, they heard another voice. "Oliver?" Laura called from the other side of the room, causing Oliver to turn his head over his shoulder, and Chloe look around him. "Is everything okay here?" Both nodded their heads, almost absentmindedly, so Laura continued, "In that case, dinner's just about ready, and you're more than welcome to join us Chloe."

"She'd love to," Oliver replied on her behalf, turning his head back to face her as he added, "wouldn't you?"

There wasn't much of a smile on his face, but the invitation and the tone of his voice proved that her actions weren't completely detrimental. Stepping aside from Oliver, she said to Laura, "If it isn't an inconvenience."

"You're always welcome Chloe, you know that."

Chloe shrugged as she looked at the two Queens. "Then I'd love to stay."

Satisfied, Laura headed back to the kitchen, but she paused as she noticed something outside her window. Her rose bush was blooming as always, but a single rose was... different. She walked closer to the window, mesmerized by the different colour, but after a second, she shook her head and walked away, convinced she was just seeing things.


	9. Part 9

**Part 9**

Chloe always thought that when she saw colour again, she'd be happier. She just didn't plan on the first colour being her lips.

"Real subtle, Zatanna," she muttered as she stared at her bedroom mirror, as this was the craziest form of a progress report she had ever seen. All this time she ignored the make-up on her dresser, but it appeared that she had no choice this time. Opening the lipstick, Chloe covered up the colour, hoping that no one would notice.

It seemed to work, as breakfast went according to plan, and her parents didn't say anything out of the ordinary. Chloe felt relieved so far, and was ready to head to school, only when she opened the door, she found Oliver on the other side, ready to knock.

Flashing the signature smile of the situation, Oliver was quick to say, "Good morning."

"What are you doing here?"

"I repeat, good morning," he replied with a slight eye roll. "Figured I could walk you to school, maybe carry your books."

Chloe raised an eyebrow, wondering if he was serious, but as he held a hand out, she couldn't resist laughing. "You like this old-fashioned shtick a little too much."

Oliver couldn't exactly disagree, and she did decide to put her book in his hand, so she seemed okay with playing along. Walking side-by-side, Oliver opened the gate, allowing for Chloe to leave first, giving Oliver a chance to look around again. "You noticed anything different today?"

Her fingers unconsciously going to her mouth, Chloe stopped in her place. Suddenly grateful Oliver was facing away from her, Chloe asked cautiously. "What do you mean?"

Unbeknownst to Chloe, he wasn't looking at her. Instead, Oliver was focusing on other details around him, eventually shaking his head as he closed the gate behind him. "Forget it." Turning his head towards Chloe, he gave her a quick smile. "Just being optimistic."

The walk to school felt completely normal, with the exception of Oliver continually looking around for signs of colour, which there wasn't much to be found. There was a reason behind it, Oliver was sure of that much, but he didn't want to reveal anything to Chloe until he more to go on.

Arriving at their destination, Oliver stepped in front of Chloe, handing her back her books, and before he had a chance to talk himself out of it, he leaned down and kissed her lips gently. She wasn't fighting it, so Oliver backed away with a grin, ready to cover his bases in case. "Sorry if that's too—"

"It's fine," Chloe interjected, for while she was surprised by the gesture, she didn't want him to make a big deal about it. "See you later?"

Seeing Oliver nod, Chloe headed towards her locker alone, thinking more about the fact Oliver kissed her this time. Usually, he would just kiss her cheek, but this time was different. Not that she was opposed to the idea, as even in a short kiss, Chloe felt a familiar spark return.

The problem was... what did that kiss even mean? The problem with this reality is that Chloe didn't know if he was kissing her for her, or if it was all part of the world. And it wasn't like she could ask him, because that would only lead to an incredibly awkward conversation.

But as Chloe reached her locker, she decided to forget the whole thing. She couldn't waste time overreacting to such a small gesture. Especially once she heard the locker next to her open.

"Morning cuz," Lois said cheerfully as she grabbed what she needed from her locker before turning back to Chloe, her grin fading away as she noticed a different hue on her face. "Hey, what happened to your lip?"

Turning her head towards the mirror on her locker, Chloe's eyes widened when she saw a hint of red. Reaching into her purse, Chloe tried to cover up the whole thing. "I have no idea." She didn't know how to explain that she got it from kissing Oliver, and Chloe couldn't risk Lois telling Oliver anything.

Except before she could add anything more, Chloe felt her arm getting pulled by Lois as she said, "Okay, now we're seeing a nurse."

**~0~**

Of course, the nurse had no solution. She had never seen anything like that ever before, and the most she could give Chloe was a semi-solid lotion. Turning the bottle in her hand, she was tempted to toss the bottle away, knowing that a white substance wasn't going to help anyone.

But as she looked for the nearest garbage can, she noticed the way that Lois was looking towards the journalism office. Knowing their shared love for journalism in Chloe's real world, she asked, "Why don't you volunteer to write a piece?"

"With my spelling?" was her reply as she tried to walk away, but this time, it was the younger cousin that pulled her back.

"Well, even you know pom poms aren't your future."

Lois shrugged in frustration, figuring the debate was pointless because she knew that, "They won't let me near a typewriter."

During her time, Chloe was aware of the gender disparity when it came to jobs, but she never thought it would stop Lois. Rotating her cousin towards the open door, Chloe said, "Then go show them that Sullivan-Lane attitude and prove them wrong."

Staring ahead, Lois cracked a smile, suddenly feeling more confident. "You're right. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? "

**~0~**

It didn't take long for Oliver to find Chloe sitting alone at their table at lunch. She appeared to have started without him, which was fine. "Mind if I have a seat?" he teased, expecting her to nod, but instead Oliver found himself freezing in his spot.

Staring up at him completely confused, Chloe asked, "What?"

Finally sitting down, Oliver pointed towards her face, "Your lip."

"Again?"

He had to admit, not the word that Oliver was expecting, but when he noticed Chloe pulling lipstick from her bag, Oliver reached his hand out to stop her. "Don't." The hint of pale red wasn't much, nothing in comparison to the colour he had seen earlier today, but Oliver wanted to see more. Carefully, he moved his thumb across her bottom lip, taking the rest of the lipstick off, surprised Chloe was letting him touch her this way.

Then again, for Chloe, the reason was simple, she couldn't focus on anything else even if she tried. The feeling of the pad of his thumb erased all other thought, as she initially closed her eyes, a quiet noise escaping her as he moved it slowly. After that, Chloe could sense how her breathing had slowed down, almost to a point where she wasn't even sure if she was.

How could this happen? How could this be that Oliver touching her had this much effect? Better question was... what the _heck _was he doing?

Opening her eyes again, Chloe peered up at Oliver, whose eyes were firmly focused on what he was to, tracing her bottom lip, then her top lip. He released her only momentarily, moistening his finger, ridding the smudges he left behind.

Once complete, Oliver traced his fingers across her cheek, tucking her hair behind her ear, taking his gaze from her lips to her eyes. "You're beautiful."

Chloe unconsciously let a smile sneak through as she stared up at him, wanting to see something colourful on him. She wasn't even overly picky. His brown eyes, his scruffy blonde hair, heck, at this point, Chloe would take eyebrows. But there wasn't anything, that wasn't the way it worked here.

Biting her bottom lip, Chloe peered at everything around them. It was clear that she had 'done something,' but it wasn't enough. Now she had to live with the consequence that she stood out in the lunch room like a sore thumb.

Noticing how Chloe's gaze had wandered and how it eventually caused her to lean away, Oliver whispered. "It's not just you."

Finishing with her lipstick re-application, she furrowed her eyebrows. "What?"

Oliver turned his head over his shoulder, reminded of how his mom reacted this morning. "My mom's roses... full-blown red this morning."

It was then that Chloe remembered Oliver's question earlier that morning. "That's why you asked if I had noticed anything different."

"And yet you lied."

"I... I wasn't sure what it meant," Chloe quickly lied, hoping her complexion wouldn't give her away, but nonetheless surprised that Oliver hadn't put two-and-two together.

Soon enough, Chloe would fill in the blanks, but for now, things were progressing just fine. Just a little more time was all that Chloe needed.

**~0~**

_Great._

All Chloe wanted was an apple before dinner, but she decided to cut it instead of biting into it like a normal person. The injury itself wasn't much, just a gash on her hand when Chloe lost grip of the apple and cut her hand instead, but it made Chloe felt like an idiot. She cursed under her breath as she headed towards the place where the first aid kit was, grateful that she needed a band-aid a week ago so that she knew where it was. Then again, that wouldn't solve all of her problems. Her blood was red too.

"Chloe?"

_Shit._

Oliver she could deal with, maybe even Lois. But not her mother. How was she supposed to explain this?

Chloe figured it was best to start with the truth. "It was an accident." Turning her head to give her mom a quick smile, Chloe hoped it would be enough for her mom to let her handle this.

But instead, it just pushed Moira into action. "Sit down," she said as she approached Chloe, pulling out what she had to from the first aid kit.

Chloe didn't want to oblige, but her mother didn't seem to be fazed by the red blood; she just wanted to take care of her daughter. It had been a long time since Chloe was able to share this kind of moment with her mother, but before she could thank her mom for cleaning the wound, the last thing Chloe expected happened.

Her mother's hand lit up, a distinctive white light taking over the room, and once Chloe opened her eyes again, her mother was fully coloured in front of her, and Chloe's wound was healed.

Moira stood up quickly, caught off-guard by the changes and when she looked up and saw Gabe in the doorway. As their eyes met, words seemed impossible, so Chloe slipped out of her seat and quietly left the kitchen, letting her parents talk in peace.

Gathering up the things that she left abandoned in the living room, Chloe realized some fake studying was probably in order. But before she could get anywhere, she was stopped by her father, fully coloured, standing in front of her.

Taking the books from her hands, Gabe wrapped his other arm around his daughter's shoulders, leading her towards the kitchen again. "I don't know what's going on... but that doesn't mean that we can't enjoy some family time before your mother and I head out tonight."

**~0~**

It was amazing the difference a day made. When Oliver last left Chloe's house, everything was still black and white for the most part. Now, walking down the street, there were varying lawns of green and grey, people with colour, or at the least, coloured clothing or accessories. Oliver couldn't explain exactly what had transpired, but he figured Chloe knew more than she was letting on.

Knocking on the door, it was quickly answered by her mother, smiling widely. "Oliver."

Oliver's mouth gaped opened momentarily as he looked at the colour that made up the inside of the Sullivan residence, and the sudden presence of Gabe as he rounded the corner. Eventually, Oliver smiled back. "Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan... you both look great." Words that he fully meant.

During his walk up the street, he had more than his share of complaints from people. Coloured people were different, which apparently meant that they had to be mocked. It was moments like this that Oliver didn't envy his father's job, as Oliver knew he would have to insist how insane their insults were. After all, they were dining with the Sullivans tonight, so if nothing else, they had to experience the difference first-hand. But Oliver knew his parents enough to know they'd be accepting of them, regarding of the colour of their skin.

Coming inside the house, Oliver took off his shoes, and was about to take off his coat when Moira said, "Chloe's in the kitchen, but... you may want to give her a minute."

Oliver furrowed his eyebrows, but he bid the elder Sullivans well as they took off for the night. Taking another look around, he began to head towards the kitchen, where sure enough, Chloe was sitting at the main table, staring at her hands.

"Hey," he said, announcing his presence, but nonetheless catching Chloe off-guard.

She stumbled out of her chair, and quickly straightened out her skirt before finally looking at Oliver. "Hey."

When she didn't say anything else, Oliver looked over his shoulder. "Your parents look great."

"I know," Chloe replied, just barely grinning at him. She was happy for her parents, even in a fictional world, but not all was well, something that Oliver clearly noticed as he starting walking towards her. Staring back at her hands, she was reminded of her injury, and figured Oliver deserved to know about that. "My mom... healed me."

Oliver's head jerked back, as he looked down at Chloe's hands, the way her fingers were rotating over a spot on her other palm. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't your mother have a different ability than you?"

Chloe exhaled loudly before rolling her eyes. "Zatanna wouldn't know the difference, she never met my mother." If she had to be honest, Chloe didn't remember mentioning her ability to Zatanna either, but it appeared their resident magician knew about her than Chloe thought.

"So does that mean... Clark may have powers after all?"

Chloe shrugged, not really sure how else to answer his question other than to supply her best theory. "I figure, maybe, the colour... it's helping people determine where they're supposed to be...accepting who they are."

Considering Chloe's and Clark's first run with Zatanna dust, Oliver figured that wasn't too much of a stretch to believe. One of Chloe's infinite strengths was to remind people of their strengths, even if she forgot her own. With this little side-quest, Zatanna was no doubt trying to boost Chloe's confidence, except there was a hint of sadness still in her expression. "Chloe, what's wrong?"

Oliver didn't feel like beating around the bush anymore, he wanted to know what was going on in her head, but in true Chloe fashion, she bit her lip, keeping her mouth shut. So Oliver held his ground, maintained his gaze, and refused to change the subject.

Fortunately, she finally gave in, sighing loudly as she stepped towards Oliver, taking his hand, walking towards the living room. In line with the couch, Chloe slumped down hard on it, knowing how good her theory sounded, but the problem was, it had already backfired.

"You heard about Lois?" she said softly, finally breaking her silence.

"Yeah, I saw her at football practice." When Oliver saw Lois, she was coloured too, and completely happy. Apparently, she had pitched an idea to the paper, and she was given a chance to write it. Clark was busy at the time, so he left Lois alone to get cleaned up, but it appeared that something had happened.

Peering towards the front door, Chloe was reminded of her cousin's sudden visit just before Oliver showed up. "Clark broke up with her because she's coloured."

Rolling her eyes, Chloe tried to get over everything. In Metropolis, Lois would never blame Chloe for what would transpire between her and Clark, but here, here Lois did. And it stung, seeing things go wrong like this.

Oliver scoffed in disbelief, hoping to never see this side of Clark here, but that whole idea seemed to be too good to be true.

Leaning forward, Chloe confessed, "I just wanted them to see their true potential, and it fell flat on my face. Just like everything else in my life."

"I wouldn't say _everything,_" Oliver quickly clarified. "We all make mistakes, Chloe. The whole world knows that I've made plenty."

"Yeah, well, you're Oliver Queen."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Looking at the disappointment in his eyes, Chloe threw her hands up in the air. "I don't know." She couldn't believe it; she was doing it again with the unintentional insults. In her head, it had made sense, because Oliver could get away with plenty, but that was only as a consequence of his other mistakes. Of all people, Chloe knew that he hated the way he was portrayed in the papers, and here she was, ignoring all that.

Sitting on the couch, she kept waiting for him to leave, but he didn't, Chloe didn't feel the couch shift. So she finally risked a glance up, seeing that he was still staring right at her, and as if he was reading her mind, he said, "I'm not going anywhere, Chloe."

The sad thing was that she wished he did, but she couldn't blame him, thanks to Zatanna and her stupid joint missions. "That's because–"

"Whatever reason you've come up with, save it," Oliver quickly interjected, tired of all the self-deprecating talk he was hearing from Chloe. "You're not getting rid of me that easily." Reaching forward, he pulled Chloe into a hug, insisting, "Not here, not in Metropolis, okay?"

As she moved her hands around his back to return the embrace, Chloe felt herself starting to relax. If nothing else, this was a positive step. "Okay."


	10. Part 10

**Part 10**

Oliver had no idea how they had gotten into this position, but he wasn't fighting it. Instead, as he stared down at her peaceful expression, Oliver carefully moved a loose strand of hair behind her ears, noticing how Chloe leaned towards him on the couch after doing so. Seeing her like this, looking so relaxed, it further affirmed to him that this was like the vacation that the woman desperately needed, but would never take. It wouldn't surprise Oliver if magic would be the only way Chloe would take a break from Watchtower these days, even to take care of herself.

That was why Zatanna had sent Oliver with her, that much was clear, because he had to admit, the little blonde in his arms had gotten to him, more than he could have ever imagined. It was such a simple moment, seeing her mouth unconsciously twitch into a grin as he tightened his arms around her, it was something most would take for granted, yet that was probably why Oliver was so lost in it.

Taking a moment, letting it sink in, not running off to save the world, to salvage a reputation. Taking a selfish moment in an unselfish manner, with someone Oliver trusted more than anyone, And, especially now, he could tell Chloe trusted him too. Maybe even one day, she'd let him in, let him take care of her like she deserved. It wasn't that Chloe Sullivan couldn't take care of herself, quite the opposite, but what was lost in the way she ensured the guys didn't overdo it was the risk she ran of not following her own advice.

Trying not to wake Chloe, Oliver carefully pulled himself from the couch, readjusting the blanket over Chloe as he stood up. He knew that if she woke up and saw him there, she'd panic in some way, so to make things easier, Oliver figured he'd make them some breakfast, no matter how much he wanted to stay with her on the couch. Weaving his fingers through her hair again, Oliver felt a smile embrace his features, finally looking up, only to see the eyes of Gabe Sullivan staring back at him.

Gabe gestured his head towards the kitchen, so Oliver was quick to oblige, hoping that he didn't screw up in any way. The whole time this morning, Oliver had forgotten that Chloe's parents were here, reminding Oliver that he would likely have to call his own parents to let him know that he was okay. Yet as he approached the doorway to the kitchen, Oliver couldn't help but feel a little nervous, even though he knew Gabe was an understanding man. After all, the reason Gabe was coloured was because he was so accepting of Moira being coloured, but Oliver hadn't really done this before, and even though this could be considered a practice run, he still felt a little tentative as he entered the kitchen.

Gabe seemed to sense that, so he broke the silence between the two men. "I called your parents last night... told them you were still here."

Pulling the chair across from Gabe out, Oliver had a seat, ready for anything. "Thank you."

To Oliver's surprise, Gabe smiled as he looked towards the entryway. "Well, it seemed like a crime to wake the two of you up last night."

When the elder Sullivans got home, most of the lights were still on, and while they were surprised by that, they headed to the living room, where they found Oliver and Chloe together on the couch. His arms were wrapped around Chloe, and their foreheads just barely touching each other. But what made Gabe and Moira leave the sleeping couple was seeing the unconscious smile on their daughter's face.

"It's the happiest I've seen Chloe in days."

Oliver smiled momentarily, as he felt the same way when he woke up. But there was something he wanted to admit, the reason he made sure to stop by the previous night, the reason he stayed. "After our misunderstanding... I wanted her to be sure that I was there for her."

**~0~**

Opening her eyes, Chloe frowned upon noticing that she was alone, but she couldn't blame Oliver. It was morning after all, and he likely had places to be. Besides, they weren't _actually _a couple, so it wasn't protocol for him to stay here anyway.

The night had been a bit of a blur, but Chloe remembered leaning against Oliver after he hugged her, and the space beside her on the couch was still warm, so Chloe knew she wasn't imagining things; he had stayed the night, and he hadn't been gone long.

Getting off the couch, Chloe did a quick take in the television screen to check her appearance. Not perfect, but considering she had just gotten up, not bad either. Combing her fingers through her hair, Chloe turned to head towards the kitchen for breakfast, but she stopped suddenly when she noticed Oliver's shoes still in the doorway. It was then she heard voices in the kitchen, so Chloe continued to head there, but stopped again, just outside of the kitchen when she heard a particular question in her father's voice.

"Oliver... you're a good kid, but I can't have these misunderstandings happening too often, you get what I'm saying?"

She didn't want to interrupt, so she leaned her back against the wall, keeping her out of sight, and listened.

**~0~**

It was a valid point, as Chloe hadn't had the best luck in her life, and sadly, in their world, her father was part of that. But here, he seemed to be genuinely concerned, so Oliver nodded, showing that he understood the sentiment Gabe was dictating. "I care about your daughter," Oliver added confidently, "more than she knows right now."

Oliver turned his head towards the doorway, smirking at how he woke up this morning, grateful Chloe let him get that close. "I know she's been hurt, but that's not going to happen with us, Mr. Sullivan." Looking back at Chloe's father, Oliver wanted to make sure that he knew, "I'm not going to give up on her."

Now that Zatanna had provided circumstances where they made sense as a couple, Oliver wanted that in Metropolis. He knew it wouldn't be the same, probably not even close, but the foundation would be the same. _They _would be the same, and that would be the only thing that mattered.

When Gabe nodded in response, Oliver nodded back and decided to take his leave here, keeping his footsteps quiet as he headed towards the front door, not wanting to wake Chloe.

But once he entered the hallway, he turned his head and noticed Chloe was already up, as she had emerged from the couch, and unbeknownst to him, had heard everything

Oliver had been quiet, but Chloe had heard the chair pull out, and that was enough for her to scamper back to the couch and play innocent. It may have seemed like an immature move, but if he meant those words, Chloe wanted Oliver to tell her that to her face. For now though, it made Chloe feel a lot better.

"Good morning," Chloe said as she rubbed her eyes, smiling as she approached him. "And thank you... again," she added, a reference to the previous night. It was something he didn't have to do, but did anyway. In a way, that was almost a catchphrase for Oliver.

But he just grinned back as he pulled her close, kissing her forehead. "It's the least I can do to make things easier around here." Oliver knew that she wasn't having the easiest of times here, but it was good to know that he was part of the solution now.

Trailing her fingers up his shirt, Chloe gestured her head towards the kitchen. "You want some breakfast?" Seeing him looking at her quizzically, her smile widened as she added, "I swear you won't have to eat my cooking."

That had been his plan, but unfortunately Oliver remembered that he had plans. "I'm meeting up with Clark this morning." But looking down at her like this, Oliver wished he didn't have to, so he leaned down a little more and asked, "Raincheck?"

"Okay," Chloe replied with a slight chuckle, unconsciously leaning up to kiss him, backing away with a grin to head into the kitchen alone, leaving Oliver shaking his head slightly. She was close; that much he knew for sure.

As he heard Chloe talking to her father in the kitchen, Oliver suddenly wanted to forget about his plans with Clark, but he decided against it, heading for his shoes in the entryway. Grabbing his coat from the hook, Oliver whipped it over his shoulders and opened the door to head outside, where it looked like a whole new world... again.

As Oliver descended the steps, he took notice of the orange and yellow leaves that scattered the trees and the streets. Most people were coloured too, and the discrimination seemed to be subsided for now. In fact, it felt really awkward for Oliver, being one of the few still in black and white. But his time would come, as he felt Chloe's defences weakening. A little more time, and Oliver would make his move, and with any luck, it will all be over, and they would be back where they belonged.

But Oliver quickly noticed that he wasn't the only one who wasn't coloured, as he saw Clark approaching him. It was really a shame that his stubbornness was in full effect, as Oliver knew it wasn't the real Lois, but she didn't deserve the treatment she got from this Clark. Then again, Oliver wasn't sure if Clark would even dare what he did if Metropolis-Lois was here. With any luck, Oliver hoped he could change things for the better before he and Chloe left this place for good.

Finally spotting Oliver, Clark tossed the ball in his direction, so Oliver held out his hands to catch it easily. He tossed it in the air a couple of times, trying to find a way to make Clark believe in his powers so that he would be coloured too. It seemed like a better job for Chloe, but she had been doing the heavy lifting lately, and Oliver figured it was his turn, and as odd as it was to believe, alt-Clark trusted Oliver more.

"How are you doing?" Oliver asked cautiously, now knowing about his break-up with Lois, but knowing better than to bring it up directly.

"I've had better days," Clark admitted, "but not too bad."

Oliver opened his mouth to say something, but before he had a chance, a little girl a couple blocks down from where they were standing called out, "Help! My cat is stuck in our tree."

Both men rushed towards the house, as Clark's do-good nature kicked in, and Oliver thought this might actually be the break he was waiting for. Sizing up the branch, Oliver knew that a ladder was needed, as it was outside of normal jumping distance and it wasn't reachable through the other branches, so climbing seemed impossible too. However, it wasn't impossible for Clark to jump up and get it.

Turning around, Clark said, "We should go get the fire department," ready to run when Oliver caught his collar, holding him in place.

"We don't have time, Clark," Oliver told him, surprised at how serious his voice came out. Sure, finding out he had powers would make Boy Scout's life more difficult, but if he could manage it in Smallville, he could do it here. "You need to get it down."

Clark's eyes bulged out for a second. "Are you insane? I can't jump that high."

"Sure you can," Oliver replied, slapping Clark's back, surprised that he actually started to walk towards the tree. Standing under it, Oliver could tell that Clark was thinking about it, so he added, "Just... really focus. The cat needs you, Clark." After that, Oliver had to sigh quietly, grateful that Clark wasn't facing him, because he could barely say that last sentence with a straight face.

Standing back, Oliver waited as Clark aligned himself at the base of the tree, taking a couple seconds to consider his trajectory. Once he took off, it was one of the weirdest things Oliver had seen, a concept considering what he had seen in the past.

It was like an artist threw a whole spectrum of paint towards the front yard, as the cat, the little girl, even Clark turned into full colour. And it didn't take Clark long to notice as he looked at his hands, his jacket, moments after he handed the cat back to the little girl, who was more than willing to thank him.

_Mission accomplished_.

Seeing how speechless Clark was, Oliver tried to reassure him that, despite his negativity towards being coloured, "It's not a bad look for you."

Oliver raised an eyebrow when Clark still hadn't answered, but eventually, he broke his silence with one word. "Lois."

Not quite the reaction Oliver was hoping for, but one that got him to laugh sarcastically. "Right, you're going to have to apologize for that one."

"You think she'll forgive me?"

With time, anything was possible with Lois Lane, but Clark didn't need to hear that. Here, things needed to be simple, to the point. "Yes."

"I never thought I'd miss her so much already," Clark admitted as they kept walking towards the school.

Oliver wanted to say that Clark only had himself to blame, but he could tell the other man was genuinely disappointed in himself. "Come on Clark, it can't be that bad."

"Not everyone can internalize their problems as well as you can," Clark remarked back, not shocked to see the resulting surprise in Oliver's eyes. "I know when you and Chloe were having problems that you missed her just as much."

Oliver hated to admit it, but he was right, and there was no way he could refute it. Clark had been there the entire time, and Oliver had been miserable. Regardless of whether Chloe was in his life as a friend, or something more, his life was better with her in it.

Smirking at his friend's change in disposition, Clark took the football from Oliver, tossing it in the air. "I'm glad you two made up though. Like I told her at the formal, even though she ran, I still believe she's the best decision you've ever made." Clark's final words were spoken as the ball smacked his hands, and with that, a realization hit Oliver.

_She knew. _

All this time, she knew exactly why they were here, and she said nothing, did...

That wasn't true either. She kissed him, and her lips had turned red, but she covered it up both from the world and from Oliver. But that all stemmed back to her figuring out their lesson. She found out the reasons they were here and hid behind the fantasy in order to avoid falling for what she thought was another case of unrequited feelings. What she didn't know was that, this time, it wasn't unrequited. While Clark may have been blind to the wonders of Chloe Sullivan for years, Oliver had long been paying attention, and had become more amazed as each day went by.

Staring down at himself, Oliver realized that it was his turn to do something, to show Chloe herself what she really meant to him. "Clark... I have to go."

The other man nodded as Oliver took down the street. Clark knew exactly what he had to do, in fact, he had to do the same thing.

The whole run to Chloe's house, all Oliver could think was the things he had admitted to everyone else, but also the light banter they had about keeping the 'relationship' real. It had started as a mandatory pep talk, but it grew into a reason, an excuse for them to explore contact they wouldn't normally attempt in their current relationship in Metropolis.

Over time, she allowed Oliver to put an arm around her shoulder, hold her hand, even kiss her. Not to mention this morning when she kissed him, and didn't even think anything of it. Chloe knew exactly what she was doing, which was the same thing Oliver was doing.

Knocking on her front door, Oliver waited patiently for Chloe to come to the door. This time, he wasn't going to leave until he saw her, because he was tired of running around the facts.

* * *

><p><em>Sera's Scribbles: Updates may slow down a little from here, but I do hope to finish this in the next 10 days or so. For more information regarding my other WIPs, consult my Fanfic To-Do list, found on my livejournal account (the link is on my profile)<em>


	11. Part 11

**Part 11**

Not long after Oliver had gone to meet Clark, Chloe left her house via the back door to head towards Lois' home. She knew her cousin would still be upset, but Chloe had to reach out, if nothing else to try and make things better.

Standing in front of the door, Chloe knocked twice and waited patiently. Sure enough, Lois opened the door with a less than amused expression, but Chloe tried a smile, hoping for the best. "Lois... can I come in?"

Chloe had expected a bit of a struggle from her cousin, but fortunately, Lois just sighed before stepping aside. "Of course, I can't stay mad at you." She let Chloe enter the house before closing the door. "If it's not meant to be, it's not meant to be, right?"

Turning to face Lois again, Chloe said, "He'll be back, trust me." She had nothing to base it on, only the bits and pieces she had seen of her and Clark together, and the bantering fests that the two seem to enjoy back in Kansas. But, with any luck, they could pull Clark's head out of his ass, and things could go back to... a different kind of normal before the real Chloe and Oliver came back.

Rolling her eyes, grateful to the fact Lois didn't see them, Chloe realized she'd likely need therapy after this. Her sense of reality was getting more distorted by the second. But she couldn't do anything about that. For now, all she could do was share a glass of orange juice with her cousin, with nothing but hope that things would change back.

"Time will tell," Lois said, addressing her cousin's comment as she stared down at herself. So much had changed over the last day, and while Lois had to admit, she looked damn good in colour, she never saw the consequences coming. But in the end, it was Clark's loss.

As she turned towards Chloe, Lois pursed her lips, noticing how Chloe was one of the first changes she had seen, but she was still stuck with a minute amount of colour. To her, the biggest mysteries were not only what had caused the colour in the first place, but also how Chloe had been the only person who had not changed entirely. "I've been meaning to ask though, how come you're still... normal?"

"Special case I guess," Chloe lied with a shrug. It's funny because normally Chloe would run from talking to Lois about things like this, but for some reason, she really wanted to this time. But she couldn't. Or at least, she couldn't frame the words properly to show what she meant without completely destroying the world Lois knew.

Looking back up at Lois, Chloe took a quick sip of juice before hearing the loud knocking on the door. Except Lois wasn't moving from her spot, so Chloe was going to set her glass down when her cousin's voice interrupted her movements. "Don't get it... it's probably _him_."

Narrowing her eyes, Chloe looked between the door and Lois before realizing that, if that was the case, maybe something big had happened. She knew football practice couldn't have been that short, so she offered, "This way, I can tell him that you need some time."

"Fine," Lois replied as she gritted her teeth.

Walking towards the front of the house, Chloe prepared herself for anything, but when she opened the door, she was surprised by the appearance of her best friend in front of her now. It was almost like stepping into a time capsule as Clark was wearing the familiar red jacket and blue shirt combination from their days in high school in Smallville. "Lois," Chloe called, knowing what her cousin had said, but she also knew that Lois had to see this, "you might want to reconsider your stance on coming to the door."

Fortunately, Lois seemed to have enough of an open mind to walk towards the front door, while Chloe backed away from her spot to give them some space.

Lois had been looking down her entire walk, slightly pissed that Chloe had blown her cover. But as she looked up, she saw her cousin's point. "Clark... you're–"

"An idiot," Clark interjected.

Lois laughed as she crossed her arms across her chest. "Not what I was going to say, but completely valid."

Reaching out to grab one of Lois' hands, Clark said sincerely, "I'm sorry for what I did to you, and I want to make things right." Giving the signature smile, he asked, "Any way you are willing to give me a second chance?"

Part of Lois wanted to make him suffer for what he did, but she really did miss Clark, even in the short period of time, and really, they could put this whole thing behind them if they got back together, and things would be back to normal. So she smiled back and leaned up to kiss Clark, and Chloe could only watch as she continued to stand a few feet back.

Realizing it was probably time to leave, Chloe picked up her purse from the floor and cleared her throat as she approached the door. She didn't want to interrupt them, but Chloe knew it wasn't best for her to stay here right now. Once she had received their attention, Chloe said, "I'm... going to take my leave here and let you two talk."

Clark stepped to the side, allowing Chloe to leave, but she didn't get too far before Clark called out to her. "Hey Chloe."

Chloe turned her head over her shoulder. "Yeah?"

He took a deep breath, knowing that things had been strained with Chloe too, albeit, he didn't know why, but he wanted to make things right. "I'm not sure if I said something at the formal to make you uncomfortable, but I am sorry."

Chloe smirked, grateful for the apology, yet oddly, it wasn't his fault this time. "I should be the one apologizing." She bit her bottom lip as she looked between Clark and Lois, reminded of how both were so understanding. It may be different in Metropolis, but it was a positive sign Chloe wasn't going to take for granted. "I... underestimated Oliver."

"Well, he knows now," Clark said, reminded of how Oliver had taken off, allowing him to visit Lois. But it was a worthwhile exit on Clark's part, and based on Chloe's expression, he saw it being similar for his friend. "I hope that's okay."

Nodding, Chloe smile widened. "It is."

Before, she would have been worried, terrified even. But now, now was different, and Chloe was tempted to turn and say goodbye to these versions of the people she knew so well back in her world, but Chloe held back, kept on her path back home. The way she saw it was that, if Clark was at Lois', and Oliver knew what he did, it wouldn't be a shock to see Oliver at her place again. If nothing else, Chloe did owe him breakfast...which would likely have to be cereal or toast.

Sure enough, as Chloe turned the final corner, she looked up and saw Oliver knocking at her door momentarily, before stopping to sit down on the front steps. He hadn't spotted her yet, even as Chloe got closer to her home, but once she reached the other side of the fence, Chloe couldn't help but grin at him.

She had hoped to pulled the gate open quietly, but once it squeaked, it didn't surprise Chloe when his head look up in her direction. "I take it that you're looking for me," she quipped, noticing the smile Oliver gave her. As he got up, Chloe walked around him on the steps and opened the front door. "By the way, I saw Clark," she added as she slipped off her shoes and turned around. "He looks great."

Oliver didn't even blink at her comment, nor did he smile, he just said, "Why didn't you tell me that you figured it out?"

She had expected such a question, but it still froze Chloe in her spot. She couldn't lie about this, not anymore, but Chloe struggled with how to answer Oliver's question. The easy thing to say would be that Chloe never thought that she'd be _that _girl to Oliver, but after all he had done to remind Chloe of her positive qualities, and to show how important she was to him, that mindset felt invalid. Instead, all she could say that, "I hoped I was wrong."

It was the truth, as initially, Chloe wanted nothing more to be wrong, but that wasn't the case anymore. However, Chloe knew she had to cover her tracks, adding, "But not for the reasons you think," because she didn't want Oliver to think that she didn't want Oliver to be interested in her; Chloe just figured that it would never happen. After all, this whole thing was set up by Zatanna, who barely knew the team, yet she still managed to read Oliver and Chloe like books. "Could you blame me for thinking that you—"

"Yes," Oliver interjected confidently, causing Chloe's eyes to widen. "I saw you that way. Before now." In fact, he figured that was pretty clear. He had definitely been more forward with the little forms of contacts, but then again, when it came to gestures, Oliver played it safer than he should have.

Narrowing her eyes, Chloe considered his words, which seemed to confirm she wasn't the only one that hadn't come clean. "Then why didn't you say anything?"

He just shrugged. "Never thought you'd give me a chance."

"Considering our stellar relationships past... a fair assumption." Watching Oliver acknowledge her point with a nod, Chloe sighed as she walked towards the couch, her fingers curling around the back as she faced away from him.

However, as she stood there, Chloe heard Oliver's footsteps behind her, getting closer each time. "But sometimes, you have to look at what went wrong in the past, why things don't work."

Still staring at her hands, Chloe let out a chuckle. "You really were serious about my terrible taste in men."

Oliver chuckled back, but his expression grew serious again, even though he knew Chloe couldn't see it. "They didn't appreciate you for everything that you are, or you hid it from them because you were embarrassed." Walking beside her, Oliver turned so that his back leaned against the couch, noticing how she jumped slightly as he came into her eyesight. "That, and from what I've seen, you haven't really embraced the philosophy that blondes have more fun."

Chloe rolled her eyes before glancing up at Oliver. "Because your exes are all blondes."

Grin widening after her retort, Oliver admitted, "I wasn't talking about me," not surprised to see Chloe blush in response. "I've seen what happens when you let go. Sure, with the team, it's great to have your no-nonsense mode going full-force, but you really need to figuratively let your hair down more often."

Moving his hand to rest on Chloe's waist, Oliver turned her so that she faced him straight on. He noticed her biting her bottom lip momentarily, but she wasn't fighting him. She even leaned closer as she asked, "And you think that you're my solution?"

"I'd like the chance," he stated, closing the distance between them even more until their lips collided.

It wasn't like the first time when she kissed him, and Chloe was pretty sure that they were breaking some sort of rule of this world. But in this moment, she didn't give a damn, so she clutched his arm, bracing her balance as she kissed him back, making it clear she wanted this just as much as Oliver.

Backing away, Oliver opened his eyes and took in Chloe's appearance. Her warm green eyes, her pale complexion, her loose blonde hair framing the face staring back at him. Lifting his hand to cup her cheek, Oliver noticed the colour back in his skin, causing him to smirk before remarking, "Looks like you were right." Leaning his forehead to bring into contact with hers, he added, "Disappointed?"

"Not even close," Chloe replied, tempted to close her eyes as she relished the feeling of his proximity, but she resisted, grateful to see the features of the Oliver she knew. For while his appearance was far from the reason they had come this far, it was still nice to see... him.

"By the way, nice shirt."

Chloe blinked, as she hadn't exactly taken much of a look at herself. So she looked down, rolling her eyes as she noticed as the gray shirt had turned to green. "Courtesy of Zatanna's sense of humour, I assure you."

"Speaking of... not that I'm complaining, but I figured..."

"We'd be back by now," Chloe finished, looking at the black television screen. For a second, Chloe thought about calling out to woman in question, but held back.

"Yeah." Oliver stared at Chloe, trying to figure out what she was thinking, when she took her hand in his.

Leading him to the couch, she peeked back with a grin as she sat down. "Well, I don't know about you, but I actually don't mind sticking around here a little longer."

"Neither do I," Oliver replied, sitting down next to Chloe, who leaned her back against his chest before closing her eyes. Wrapping his arms around her, Oliver kissed the top of her forehead, shutting his eyes, unbeknownst to him that he would soon fall asleep.


	12. Part 12

**Part 12**

Something felt different. This wasn't the couch, nor the bed she had gotten used to. Opening her eyes, Chloe groggily looked around, and once the colours set in, Chloe jolted out of her bed.

She was back... in Smallville... in the Talon. Back in the world she knew. And it was quiet. _Too quiet_.

She had been gone for two, maybe three weeks in Metroville-land, and nothing looked out of place. Chloe's phone was still on the counter where she left it, right next to her car keys. Picking the phone up, she was curious about much she had missed, but turns out, she hadn't missed anything. It was 2 p.m., but somehow Chloe had only missed one morning.

Did that mean that everything that had happened was one big dream? That Zatanna had gotten in her head so much that Chloe _made _Metroville in her head?

"Great, now I really need therapy," Chloe muttered to herself as she put the phone back down, aimlessly walking forward.

The saddest part was that it wouldn't be the strangest thing to happen to her, and as Chloe slumped down on the couch, she closed her eyes, oddly wanting to open her eyes to see that stupid dream world just one last time. Instead, she saw the door opening, and Lois walking in with a tray of coffee.

"Oh good, you're finally up." Lois walked over, holding out one of the cups to Chloe. "Have to say...you missed _quite _the party cuz. Oliver really pulled all the stops."

_Oliver_.

Cursing inside, Chloe was reminded even more of the events that had transpired in the last...thirteen hours. When she first opened her eyes, she was looking forward to seeing Ollie next to her, but instead, she was left wondering what _really _happened.

How was she supposed to face him now? Before, Chloe's walls had suppressed any feelings she might have had, but now, they were right on the surface. She could claim everything was a dream, but the feelings she had, they were still there. The way her heart skipped a beat when Lois said his name, the reminder of the numerous things Oliver did for her, the smirk on his face she saw when Chloe closed her eyes again, not even caring about the coffee in her hand.

This whole thing was so messed up that Chloe wanted to take it all back, to not remember a second of it, but it didn't work, no matter how hard she tried.

Meanwhile, Lois could only stand back for so long as she watched her cousin give that statement an unexpected reaction. "Maybe it is a good thing you missed it. You look terrible cuz."

"Just a headache," Chloe said without thinking. It seemed to be her fallback excuse lately anyway.

Except this Lois wasn't buying it. "Yeah right," she said sarcastically, sitting down beside Chloe.

At this point, Chloe figured the best thing she could say was a shortened version of the truth. "Just a really weird dream, that's all."

_I think_.

**~0~**

Pulling apart the bookcases at Isis, Chloe stood in awe at the new set-up. Slightly baffled, she checked her phone again. Same day, understandable time since she got up. But everything was different, the keyboard, the monitors, the...

_"Last month you got mad at me because I ordered the wrong monitors for Isis."_

"There really was a negligible difference between the two," Chloe remarked, reminded of 'Oliver's' retort. Entering the area fully, Chloe took her place at the front of the module, powering up the system.

The installation from what Chloe could see was flawless, meaning Victor was involved. She would have to give him a call later, but first, this gesture had a different man's name all over it. She didn't really want to call him, as Chloe was still processing everything that happened. But she pulled out her phone nonetheless, dialling the number.

Putting the phone on speaker, Chloe pulled up the files she had been working on, when she heard a different vibrating sound from behind her. Furrowing her eyebrows, she turned her head around, and sure enough, there Oliver stood, holding his phone in the palm of his hand.

"You're late setting up today," he remarked as his phone stopped buzzing, prompting Oliver to put it back in his pocket.

Chloe laughed as she eyed the new set-up. "Which seemed to work in your favour."

Approaching the console, Oliver stood beside her as he watched Chloe start working. "Victor had that all set up last night once I knew you were heading back to Smallville." Smile widening, he added, "I was... hoping to surprise you."

"Mission accomplished on that front," Chloe quickly remarked. "But Oliver, the other ones were perfectly usable, there was no reason to get them replaced."

"They won't go to waste," he said, leaning against the console, wondering why Chloe was insisting on avoiding eye contact. "You deserve the best, and the monitors back at the clocktower needed to be updated anyway. Two birds, one stone."

"If you say so," Chloe said quietly. She wanted to act natural around Oliver, but despite how confident her words sounded, she felt... odd inside, and Chloe knew it would show in her face, so she hid it.

But Oliver was too smart for that. "Chloe... are you okay?"

"I..." Chloe tried to find a decent excuse, but that was before Oliver put a hand on her shoulder. The jolt it gave her stopped any word progress, causing her to finally risk looking up at him.

And there Oliver was, just staring back at her: his brown eyes of concern, his overall aura that pulled Chloe towards him. But to her surprise, she wasn't the only one moving. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed his hand sliding from her shoulder, closer to her neck, and Chloe could swear that Oliver moved forward a step too. Maybe, just maybe... it wasn't all a...

_Click_

Hearing the main door was all it took for them both take a step back. Somehow, Chloe managed to whisper, "Thank you," meeting his eyes only momentarily before turning back towards the monitors. Within seconds, Chloe could hear barely hear Oliver's retreating footsteps over the drumming of her own heartbeat, but instead of turning around, she clutched the console tightly, the stress leaving through her grip as she heard a different set of footsteps approaching her.

"So...," Victor said as he entered the room with a fresh cup of coffee for Chloe, "What do you think?"

"You did a great job," Chloe replied with as much of a smile that she could manage, tempted to chug the coffee this time as she curled her fingers around the cup.

**~0~**

_You have got to be kidding me._

Hearing her phone vibrate, Chloe reached across her bedside table to turn it off, but not before catching a glimpse of the caller ID. Oliver. Perfect.

All Chloe wanted to do was sleep this whole thing off, but no, he had to call her at... three in the morning. She had left Isis early and everything, all to ensure she didn't make a complete fool of herself in front of him again. The move ended up working out, as Lois was called on assignment, causing her to board a plane that evening. So Chloe had the Talon to herself for some nice peace and quiet. But as always, the world never really cooperated on that front.

She just stared at her phone, so the call went to voicemail, but Chloe knew he would call back. Sure enough, his name lit up her phone again, but Chloe had no idea what to do. It wasn't like she was avoiding Oliver, it was just that... she... okay she was avoiding him. But it was temporary, or at least that was the plan. The problem was that Chloe knew if she didn't answer, she'd have an army of superheroes at her door within seconds, which wasn't the ideal scenario either. Regardless, it meant that she had to explain her weird behaviour, and to Chloe, only one person deserved an actual explanation, no matter how hard it was going to be.

So she took a deep breath and finally answered, "What is it Oliver?" It was harsh, but he was the one calling her so early in the morning. If Chloe could help it, she was going to avoid the conversation as long as possible.

There was a pause on the line, and Chloe actually considered hanging up before Oliver's voice came on the line. _"Are you actually sleeping?"_

Moving herself so that she was sitting up in bed, Chloe turned the light on, ready for whatever Oliver needed. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she replied, "That is the normal thing to do at this time."

"_Not for you_," Oliver was quick to point out, a valid one at that, but it didn't answer the question of why Oliver was calling. He sounded quite calm, erasing all possibilities of a league emergency. This wasn't a normal event, so Chloe just sat there, breathing into the phone, close to breaking, when Oliver asked, "_What does the word Metroville mean to you?_"

Chloe blinked, not entirely sure if she had heard him correctly. So she asked cautiously, "Why do you ask?"

"_Does it..."_ Oliver started, and Chloe could practically hear him thinking on the other end, "_ring any bells?"_

Closing her eyes, Chloe breathed a sigh of relief. "So that really happened?"

She wasn't the only one, as she heard Oliver sigh too in response. _"You remember."_

"Everything," she was more than willing to admit. "From football games, getting caught in rain, and—" Her answer stopped when she heard a rock hitting her window, then another, and then another. "That." She pulled back her sheets, the phone cradled between her ear and her shoulder as she approached the window. Peeking out, she saw Oliver standing outside, about to throw another one, but he stopped upon seeing her there.

After giving Oliver a quick smile, Chloe hung up her phone, absentmindedly tossing it aside before opening the window. "Really?" she remarked, raising an eyebrow as she looked down at him.

Oliver gave her a cocky grin as he stuffed his phone in his pocket. "The door was locked."

"And that's stopped you in the past," Chloe pointed out, crossing her arms over her chest.

"That's different," Oliver remarked with a shrug as he tossed the stone up towards Chloe. She hadn't been expecting it, but Oliver's pin-point accuracy made it easy to catch. "I'm trying to make one particular memory a little better."

It didn't take much Chloe to realize what memory that was. "And you decided to do this now?"

"The way I see it... it takes two, maybe three, hours to get here. I could have talked myself out of it, but here I am." She was right, Oliver could have 'broken in,' knocked on the door of the upstairs apartment, but he picked this route for a reason.

Oliver knew Chloe enough that she'd be more than willing to shove everything that happened aside, even with both of them remembering. So he drove the distance to get to her door, to tell her that everything in black in white mattered, that he wanted that for them here. "I told you Chloe... you're not getting rid of me that easily." In more ways than one, Oliver wanted her to let him in again.

But she was frozen to her spot. Chloe had no idea what to say to him as she stared down at Oliver, but he confidently sat on the hood of his car. "Don't worry, you can take all the time you need," he called out, moving his eyes away from the window and towards the door she'd have to go out to see him.

Oliver was so sure that she'd come down, so why couldn't Chloe move her feet? He remembered everything, and like he said, he drove all this way, so what was stopping her?

Turning her head, Chloe stared at the pebble in her hand, remembering all the memories they had created together, the opinions she had gotten of the people around them, but most importantly, how happy he had made her. Not just in Metroville, but in this world too. All those memories that Chloe desired to forget minutes ago were no longer laced with bittersweet. They were exactly what they were supposed to be, experiences that they went through _together._

Looking towards the door, Chloe walked towards it, unlocking the first lock, and then working the deadbolt before opening it. Was she really doing this? Was this what she wanted?

_Yes._

Chloe hated to admit it, but it appeared that she owed Zatanna two now.

Not bothering to look for shoes, Chloe walked out of the room, her pace quickening on the steps, heading to the door to unlock it. Hearing the click, Chloe reached for the doorknob, but she didn't have a chance to grab it, as Oliver had heard her and waited until the right moment to swing the door open.

"Hey," he said, smug grin on his face as he stood on the other side of the doorway.

"Hello," Chloe replied, catching her breath as she accepted the reality. The reality that also included the fact that she was standing in front of Oliver Queen in a very skimpy nightgown. Except she didn't feel she had to cover herself up, because Oliver wasn't taking in the view, he was looking her straight in the eyes. "Would you like to come in?"

"That depends," Oliver said, contradicting his words as he stepped inside the Talon.

Chloe waited for him to finish his sentence, as she wasn't a mind reader, but as the door clicked shut, she realized she had to ask, "On what?"

"On why you opened the door."

"You're the intelligent CEO," she quipped as she turned around to face him, "what do you think?"

Stepping closer, Oliver smirked, almost letting a chuckle out. "Always the cryptic answer."

Chloe shrugged as she replied, "You can't always get what you want Oliver." But that statement seemed to become less valid as Oliver kept coming towards her, and Chloe had no place to go, as her back was still inches from the door. "I mean..."

Oliver had to admit, there was something beautiful about making Chloe Sullivan speechless. "Yes?"

That single word allowed Chloe to shake out of her stupor and find her confidence again. Looking him straight in the eye, she tilted her head slightly, narrowing her eyes as she remarked, "You can't always have it so easy. Sometimes you have to work a little."

Little was an understatement when it came to gaining Chloe's attention, but he knew what she meant. "We work plenty, don't you think?" Reaching forward to move a loose strand of hair out of her eyes, Oliver added, "I think that the answer we need lies more in the realm of fun."

"And what might that be?"

"I want to give this a legitimate shot," Oliver replied immediately, figuring that 'this' was pretty obvious, but when Chloe didn't react his admission, he took both of her hands in his. "Not because of Zatanna or a dichromatic world, but because—"

"I know," Chloe interjected, because Oliver didn't have to explain himself anymore. He had more than convinced her by now. "But what do we do now?"

Oliver's smile widened as he kissed her softly. "That's the best part. Whatever _we_ want." No rules from a certain mistress of magic, no quandaries from their friends, just them, living their own lives. "But first, I was thinking of cashing in that rain check."

**~End~**


End file.
